Strictly embargoed until: 07.00 on 26th April 2018
Draper Esprit plc
("Draper Esprit" or the "Company")
DRAPER ESPRIT ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT IN REVOLUT, A LEADING FINTECH BUSINESS
Draper Esprit (AIM: GROW, ESM: GRW), a leading venture capital firm investing in and developing high growth digital technology businesses, today announces a commitment of up to $16.5 million in Revolut, the London headquartered fintech company.
Draper Esprit's investment in Revolut is part of their latest Series C funding round, which sees Revolut valued at $1.7 billion, taking their total funds raised to $340 million since launch in 2015. The round was led by Hong Kong based DST Global.
Revolut, one of the fastest growing tech companies in Europe, was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and employs over 350 people, providing alternative digital banking services direct to customers. It functions like a digital bank, allowing users to transfer money across different currencies without transaction fees.
The business has over 250,000 daily active users and is targeting 100 million customers in the next five years. In the last few months alone, it has launched features that allow customers to instantly buy and sell cryptocurrencies as well as a savings feature that lets customers round up their daily transactions and save their spare change in a digital Vault.
Simon Cook, CEO at Draper Esprit, commented:
"Revolut is a fantastic business which we have got to know both directly and through our relationship with Seedcamp. We have been tracking their progress within the digital banking ecosystem for a while. Their status as one of the fastest growing tech companies in Europe is testament to the great work that Nikolay and his team have undertaken in recent years. App-only digital banks like Revolut are changing the way we bank and we are tremendously excited about working with the business given its enormous potential to completely revolutionise the way we borrow, save, pay and invest."
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For further information, please contact:
Draper Esprit plc Simon Cook (Chief Executive Officer) Ben Wilkinson (Chief Financial Officer) |
+44 (0)20 7931 8800 |
Numis Securities Nominated Adviser & Joint Broker Alex Ham Richard Thomas Jamie Loughborough |
+44 (0)20 7260 1000 |
Goodbody Stockbrokers ESM Adviser & Joint Broker Don Harrington Charlotte Craigie Linda Hickey Richard Tunney |
+353 1 667 0420 +44 (0)203 8416202 |
MHP Communications (PR) James White Vera Prokhorenko Pete Lambie |
+44 (0)20 3128 08570 |
About Draper Esprit
Draper Esprit is one of the most active venture capital firms in Europe, developing and investing in disruptive, high growth technology companies. We believe the best entrepreneurs in Europe are capable of building the global businesses of the future. We fuel their growth with long- term capital, access to international networks and decades of experience building businesses. Currently Draper Esprit is a shareholder in a diverse portfolio of companies including Trustpilot, Graze, Perkbox, PushDoctor and Graphcore.
Visit www.draperesprit.com
