Digital SME banking startup Recognise Bank has completed an £8.7 million capital raise from City of London Group, the bank's parent company.
Recognise Bank was given the green light by the UK's Prudential Regulation Authority in September to launch personal and business savings products and to start taking deposits.
The lifting of restrictions followed the completion of a £14 million capital raise in August for the City of London Group subsidiary.
The Bank recently hit a milestone of £100 million in lending and £95 million in deposits through its range of personal savings accounts and in April launched it first business savings accounts.
The new funding means that CoLG has so far raised almost £65 million in investment to kickstart the startup.
The latest investment comes from two of CoLG’s existing shareholders, PV27, the family office of real estate entrepreneur and digital pioneer, Ruth Parasol, and Max Barney Investment Limited (MBIL), the London based property firm. PV27 and MBIL are exercising warrants received during the last fund raise in August 2021.
Bryce Glover, CEO of Recognise Bank says the new capital will be used to support continued business lending, as well as the creation of a digital innovation team charged with building new products and fresh revenue streams.
“Recognise Bank has already made its mark in the business banking sector by hitting the challenging lending target we set, proving there is demand amongst the UK’s SMEs for our mix of relationship banking, supported by cutting edge technology," he says. "Investing in our digital capabilities will help us build a world-class business bank, for today and the future.”