UK digital bank Zopa has raised £220 million from a clutch of investors led by Softbank Vision Fund 2.
Zopa in March landed £20 million from existing investors following the launch of its app-only bank last year. The new financing gives the company a dollar unicorn price tag with a valuation of close to £750 million.
Initially launching with a one-to-five year fixed term savings account, the banking operation has since moved into credit cards, unsecured loans and auto-finance, lending £6 billion to customers. The company has so far attracted £675m in deposits and issued 150,000 credit cards.
The new funding round, which also included participation from a number of existing investors including Silverstripe, Northzone and Augmentum, is its largest to date and the last ahead of a mooted IPO late next year.
"We are focused on building a sustainable, profitable business model which works for our customers and our shareholders," states the company. "This is close to becoming a reality as we are on track to hit profitability within the next 10 weeks, making Zopa one of the fastest digital banks in the UK to do so, just 18 months after gaining our full bank licence."