Estonian FinTech Monese — FinTech startup Monese has landed a $35M investment from HSBC, the biggest European bank. According to Altfi, with this transaction, the financial giant will obtain a minority (<10%) stake in Monese and will enter strategic cooperation with a startup.
Monese, which has offices in Tallinn and London, and HSBC are closely aligned in their commitment to opening up the full extent of digital banking possibilities. The investment is part of a broader, strategic partnership that will focus on Monese’s industry-leading, cloud-based Platform as a Service business.
“Securing the support of a tier one global bank demonstrates the strength of our platform and the continued appetite from investors in the platform,” notes Norris Koppel, Founder and CEO of Monese.
“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, Digital Partnerships, and Innovation at HSBC Ventures, says.
“This new partnership is a key step towards helping us deliver digital wealth and banking tools at pace and scale, combining Monese’s fintech credentials with our own global wealth and banking capabilities,” Taylan Turan, Group Head of Retail Banking and Strategy, Wealth and Personal Banking at HSBC, says.
The investment brings the total raised by Monese to $208 million. In September 2021, investment platform Dealroom estimated its valuation in a range of $360—540 million. In 2021, Monese announced the launch of its Platform as a Service business and a strategic partnership with Investec. As part of the strategic partnership, Investec led Monese’s oversubscribed Series C.
The startup was founded in 2013, enabling individuals to avail a way to shop online, receive a salary, and make purchases at stores without the credit checks or residency restrictions imposed by traditional banks.
