Estonian fintech startup Monese raises $35M 

The Estonian-founded fintech startup Monese has raised $35 million in funding from HSBC, the largest bank in Europe. The investment will support the startup’s move into the Banking-as-a-Service business, Invest in Estonia reports.

• Founded in 2013 by Norris Koppel, Monese is a digital banking alternative that provides mobile-only, multi-currency accounts. Its technology can validate customers’ identity in real-time, allowing accounts to be opened in a matter of minutes.
• Monese has headquarters in Tallinn and London. Currently, the startup operates in 31 countries across the European Economic Area.
• HSBC Ventures, the biggest European bank’s fund, provided the funding. Following the round, the financial giant will obtain a minority stake in Monese and will enter strategic cooperation with the startup.

“HSBC is excited to invest in Monese as one of the leading fintech players in the market. Our investment will provide stronger strategic alignment and enable us to build on our strengths as partners,”

Catherine Zhou, Global Head of Ventures at HSBC Ventures, comments.

• This investment brings the total raised by Monese to $208 million. According to Crunchbase, the startup completed its Series C round at $90 million of funding from Investec in September 2021.
• The round is part of a broader, strategic partnership. Monese will focus on further developing its industry-leading, cloud-based Platform-as-a-Service business.