Starling Bank secures £50m funding from Goldman Sachs
Starling Bank has received a £50m equity investment from Goldman Sachs.
The investment is an extension of the challenger bank’s oversubscribed £272m series D funding round announced last month, bringing the total raised to £322m.
The challenger bank, which has funding partnerships with peer-to-peer lenders Funding Circle and Zopa, was valued at more than £1.1bn before the series D fundraise.
“Securing the support of another global financial heavyweight demonstrates the strength of demand from investors and represents yet another vote of confidence in Starling,” Anne Boden, founder of Starling Bank, said.
“Goldman Sachs will bring valuable insight as we continue with the expansion of lending in the UK, as well as our European expansion and anticipated mergers and acquisitions.”
The deal, which remains subject to regulatory approval, will support Starling’s rapid and now profitable growth, the challenger bank said.
Starling has previously agreed to fund £300m of coronavirus business interruption loans loans through the Funding Circle platform.
It also has a forward flow arrangement with P2P lending platform Zopa, and it has expressed interest in pursuing more partnerships with other alternative lenders.
This is not Goldman Sach’s first foray into alternative finance.
It has also previously invested an undisclosed amount into Swedish P2P lender Brocc, and in July struck a £200m funding line with Lendable.