N26 valuation soars to $9bn after $900m funding round
Ellie Duncan | News
20 Oct 2021
German neobank N26 has secured $900 million in a Series E funding round to expand its mobile banking offering, valuing the company at more than $9 billion.
The round was led by New York-based Third Point Ventures and Coatue Management, while Dragoneer Investment Group participated alongside existing investors.
The digital bank was also supported by Goldman Sachs Bank Europe, acting as the placement agent for the round.
N26 said it is the largest funding round for a digital bank in Europe and it is now the highest-valued fintech in Germany.
The neobank plans to hire an additional 1,000 team members globally, with a focus on product, technology and cybersecurity.
Valentin Stalf, CEO and co-founder of N26, said: “This recent financing round solidifies the fact that retail banking as we know it has changed.
“With our fresh capital, we are in pole position to become one of the biggest retail banks in Europe, all without a single branch.”
Heath Terry, partner at Third Point Ventures, added: “N26 has established itself as a leading tech-forward global digital bank. We are excited to provide capital and strategic support to accelerate N26’s work to make digital retail banking accessible to millions.”
N26 also intends to significantly expand its employee equity pool, while broadening Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) participation to 100% of employees as part of one of the largest ESOP programs in Europe.
Co-CEO and co-founder of N26 Maximilian Tayenthal said: “It is hugely important to us that we can share the success of N26 with our employees. Without them, we would not be the company we are today.”
It has agreed with the German regulator BaFin to temporarily onboard a maximum of 50,000 to 70,000 customers per month and warned that “new customers in certain markets may be temporarily redirected to a waiting list” but that existing customers will not be affected.
The neobank already has more than 7 million customers in 25 countries and on track to process more than $90 billion in transaction volume in 2021 alone.
