Digital-only Atom Bank has secured £25 million in funding and plans to recruit 30 new staff as it bids to take on the established banking industry.
Atom, which aims to launch next year with a full portfolio of products, says Neil Woodford's CF Woodford Equity Income Fund has become a "cornerstone" of the bank's shareholder base.
Also participating in the round where a number of veteran financiers, including venture capitalist Jon Moulton, former chair of Goldman Sachs Asset Management Jim O'Neill, businessman Peter Vardy and Polar Capital.
The North East-based firm is currently applying for a full banking license from the Prudential Regulatory Authority and the Financial Conduct Authority.
Atom chief executive Mark Mullen says: “As we continue to move closer towards authorisation, our strong financial position and the support from individual and institutional shareholders positions us well for our planned launch in 2015.”
Created by former Metro Bank chairman Anthony Thomson and ex-first direct CEO Mullen, Atom is hoping to take advantage of the shift in banking from branches to mobile and online channels.
"Once there were six of us, but now we number close to sixty," says Atom on its website. "We come from the tech sector, the civil service, from banking, and many other walks of life. We all bring different perspectives, but we share a determination to change banking for the better, for good."