• Plum announces first close of $14m as part of a $24m Series A funding round. 
• Investors include dmg ventures, Ventura Capital, Global Brain, VentureFriends and 500 Startups. 
• Francesco Simoneschi (Truelayer), Charles Delingpole (ComplyAdvantage) and Hugh Strange (Nubank) also join as angels.
• A record-breaking 20,000+ people showed interest in joining phase two of round via crowdfunding in just 12 hours. 
• New round will accelerate the strong growth seen already across Europe and expand investment assets.
  

Friday 15th October 2021. London, UK. Fast-growing fintech Plum is today announcing a first close of new funding that will supercharge the company’s expansion, and cement Plum as Europe’s ultimate money management app. 

The first close of $14m is part of an anticipated $24m Series A. The round is led by a consortium of noted investors, including new partners dmg ventures and Ventura Capital, who have previously invested in scaleups such as Cazoo and Farewill (dmg) and Railsbank (Ventura). The new investors are joined in this round by previous Plum backers Global Brain, VentureFriends and 500 Startups. 

Plum is welcoming support from several notable names from the fintech space as part of this round. Francesco Simoneschi, CEO & co-founder of Truelayer, Charles Delingpole, founder and CEO of ComplyAdvantage, and Hugh Strange, VP of Product at Nubank are backing Plum as angel investors, bringing with them a wealth of experience from across the sector.

The company is planning to give customers a chance to share in its success too, with a new crowdfunding round opening on Crowdcube later in October. Plum has seen record-breaking interest in the campaign so far, with more than 20,000 people registering interest in the round in the first 12 hours of the campaign launching (1). When the Series A closes, Plum expects total funding to date to have topped $43.3m and its valuation to have tripled since the company’s last funding round in July 2020.

This new funding comes after a period of steep growth for Plum, as savers and investors across Europe look to fintechs to help them grow their wealth in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The company has seen connected customer numbers double in the past year, with more than 1m people across Europe now saving and investing with Plum (2). Plum has saved more than $1bn for customers since its inception and was recently ranked the most popular choice during the pandemic out of 10 investment apps (3).

Revenue has also increased notably in the past year, with growth of +189% year-on-year as more customers streamline their finances by subscribing to Plum’s premium tiers. Important subscription features launched in 2021 include the Money Maximiser, an automated budgeting tool which streams spending money while maximising on interest, and Plum’s first smart pension product, a SIPP that sets money aside continuously for retirement.

Further European expansion is at the heart of Plum’s plans following this round. The company, which has European bases in Athens and Nicosia, is expected to receive regulatory approval to offer investments in the EU, which will allow Plum to give customers in France, Spain and Ireland access to its US stocks product when it goes live later in the year. Plum is already covering 26.6% of the EU population (119m people), and plans to cover 70.6% by the end of 2022 (316m people) with launches in the Netherlands, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, Finland, Austria and Germany (4). 

Product development in 2022 will be focused on getting people investing smartly with Plum. The company is planning to do this by offering more assets, building on its forthcoming stocks launch with EU and UK stocks, as well as crypto as an asset class by mid-2022. Access to these new asset classes will continue to have automation at the heart, as ultimately all investment products will sit together in the Splitter within the Plum app, where customers can easily and continuously invest across their portfolio. A Plum card is also on the horizon later this year to help customers automate their spending alongside their investments. 

Victor Trokoudes, CEO & co-founder of Plum, comments: “Wealth for all is our mission and we’ve made some great strides towards making that reality this year, expanding our user base massively and delivering a product that looks more-and-more like a financial super app. But there’s a lot more work to be done. The appetite for smart and intuitive investment products is enormous, particularly in other parts of Europe where often old-fashioned banks are the only option for growing your money. With the help of this new investment and our upcoming crowdfund, our app will become the natural choice for anyone in Europe looking to improve their finances for the long-term.” 

Manuel Lopo De Carvalho, CEO of dmg ventures, comments: “We’ve been seriously impressed with all elements of Plum and are excited to be supporting the team. They’re striking a chord with a rapidly growing number of consumers and have an exciting product roadmap for the next 12 months and beyond. Plum is bringing financial simplicity and sustainability to its users; much-needed in a world where everyone is dealing with a melee of financial considerations.”

-ends-

References

1. Crowdcube internal numbers. 
2. Plum internal numbers.
3. AppRadar numbers on Android downloads. 
4. Wikipedia numbers. 

Notes for editors

About Plum

Plum is Europe’s ultimate app for managing money. Founded in 2016 by Victor Trokoudes (ex-Wise) and Alex Michael (ex-TicTail), Plum’s mission is to banish financial instability and make everyone better off over their lifetime. The Plum app acts like a brain by automating the parts of personal finance that people find difficult or don’t have time for. It sets aside what each person can afford, finds better deals on everyday bills, offers useful spending insights and provides a simple platform for easy-access investments. With an iOS and Android app launched in 2019, Plum has now grown to include a unique investment platform, pensions, budgeting analytics, and interest on savings. Plum is headquartered in London, UK and has offices in Athens, Greece and Nicosia, Cyprus.

Disclosures

Capital is at risk when investing. Past Performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Plum is the trading name for Plum Fintech Limited (no. 09952199). Plum Money is the trading name for Saveable Limited (no. 09777255). Plum Fintech Limited and Saveable Limited’s registered office is on Floor 2, Moorgate House, 5-8 Dysart Street, EC2A 2BX, London. Saveable Limited is a wholly owned subsidiary of Plum Fintech Limited.

Plum Fintech Ltd is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority as an Account Information Service Provider (FRN: 836158) and an electronic money agent (FRN: 902844). Saveable Limited is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FRN: 739214).

Plum is an electronic money agent of PayrNet Limited. PayrNet Limited is authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority as an Electronic Money Institution (FRN: 900594). PayrNet Limited is registered at Kemp House, 152 City Road, London, EC1V 2NX, UK.