• £12.5m equity and £50m debt fundraise results in a 2.8x increase on rewards credit card’s last valuation 
• Investment plans include hiring drive, growth of rewards program and expansion to new UK cities
• Yonder launches crowdfund to give members and non-members the chance to invest

17 April 2023 – Today, challenger credit card Yonder announces a raise of £12.5 million in equity and £50 million in debt following its Series A funding round. The round was co-led by Northzone and RTP Global alongside angel investors Joseph Moore, founder of Crust Bros, and Cred founder Kunal Shah, who join a host of existing investors including Sharmadean Reid, Matt Robinson (GoCardless) and Rio Ferdinand. The funding has resulted in a post-money valuation of more than £70m.

Yonder plans to use the investment to accelerate its growth by doubling its team, expanding its credit rewards offering into new verticals and launching in new UK cities, as it aims to transform the credit market for young professionals.  

Since launching publicly in March 2022, Yonder’s unique take on loyalty rewards has been designed to re-introduce millennial and Gen Z consumers to credit cards. Its mission is to help young professionals to build more secure financial futures through responsible use of credit, giving them the ability to build credit scores earlier while providing greater purchase protection and enabling them to unlock more value from their spending.

ClearScore alumni Tim Chong, Harry Jell and Theso Jivajirajah launched Yonder after being unable to find appealing credit options available for expats in the UK. Securing FCA authorisation in just nine months, Yonder is one of the UK’s only credit cards that uses Open Banking to evaluate credit suitability. This enables Yonder to build a more nuanced, personalised picture of its customers’ spending habits based on transaction data, instead of relying on traditional credit checks alone.

Yonder’s rewards programme has been built on a fair value exchange model, enabling customers to incorporate the card into their daily lifestyles with rewards experiences that have been developed following months of consumer research. Offering a high rate of return on spending, members can redeem points with carefully selected and monthly changing partners including the likes of Kricket, Lina Stores and BAO. In addition to reward experiences, Yonder offers its customers no-excess worldwide travel insurance and no spending fees abroad, enabling customers to earn points while they travel.

Co-Founder and Yonder CEO Tim Chong says: “Securing this funding is a real achievement in the current climate, and we feel incredibly fortunate to have the backing of investors who believe in Yonder’s vision. 

“We’ve built Yonder as a key to the city for young professionals, which encourages responsible use of credit while helping them to unlock more value from their spending. The response so far has proved to us that we’ve built something that consumers really want, and signals a shift in the way consumers want to use and engage with credit. Yonder is a social-first business, so being able to expand to other UK cities and to grow our rewards proposition into other verticals like sport, fitness and theatre as a result of this funding is a huge step, and will mean we can offer our adventurous members more ways to experience more of their city.  

“The credit market needs a rebuild, and we firmly believe change happens through intuitive products designed to help customers with their best interests at heart, not just blog posts on a website. This investor support will help us on our journey to completely rebuild consumer relationships with credit and show that Yonder is a company they can trust. We can’t wait for more people to experience credit the way it should be.”

Chong, Jell and Jivajirajah have made a conscious decision to grow their team in a considered manner, in an effort to hire sustainably and avoid layoffs. Yonder has built a diverse team from the outset, with two non-white co-founders, and 50% of staff and 30% of the leadership team being female. The latest round of funding will enable Yonder to double in size, with plans to finish the year as a team of 35. 

Northzone Partner, Jeppe Zink, added: “We are thrilled to continue to be part of the Yonder journey as young professionals eagerly seek a cutting-edge digital credit card that delivers not only enhanced customer convenience but also genuine relevance. Yonder addresses this need by establishing an exclusive membership club for a community of like-minded individuals. The impressive early engagement metrics are a testament to the exceptional potential Yonder holds.”

Joseph Moore, Founder of Crust Bros, says: “Yonder has designed its rewards program to brilliantly suit both its members’ lifestyles and the needs of their partners like us at Crust Bros. Investing was a no-brainer for me, and I look forward to seeing them grow.”

Yonder is extending its round with a crowdfund open to both members and non-members, now open for pre-registration. For more information, click here. 

For more information about Yonder, visit https://www.yondercard.com/. 

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Hi-Res Imagery: here

For further information, please contact: 

Emily Howell, Senior PR Manager – [email protected]

About Yonder: 

Yonder is a modern lifestyle rewards credit card that helps young consumers to unlock the best experiences in their city. Founded in 2021, Yonder began as a solution for expats after ClearScore alumni Tim Chong, Theso Jivajirajah and Harry Jell were shocked by the difficulty of accessing quality credit products as Australian citizens in London, despite having a stable income. Quickly realising the scale of the industry’s problems, Chong, Jivajirajah and Jell made it their mission to rebuild customers’ relationship with credit, launching a lifestyle card that makes money rewarding, credit empowering and eliminates the stress of debt. Yonder has raised a total of £82.85M from VC funds including Seedcamp, Northzone and LocalGlobe, and includes Frank Strauss (Deutsche Postbank), Matt Robinson (GoCardless) and Rio Ferdinand among its angel investors. Yonder’s experiences are designed around real people’s spending habits, with Lina Stores, Kricket and Gladwin Brothers amongst the company’s best-known partners. Yonder is authorised and regulated by the FCA and is available on iOS and Android.

About Yonder’s Investors: 

Northzone 

Northzone (northzone.com) is an early-stage venture capital fund built on experience spanning multiple economic and disruptive technology cycles and has over $1.7 billion under management. Founded in 1996 and with a team spread across three main hubs, New York, London and Stockholm, Northzone has to date raised nine funds and invested in more than 150 companies, including category-defining businesses like Spotify, iZettle, Avito, Kahoot!, Hopin, Klarna and Personio.

RTP Global 

RTP Global is a leading venture capital firm focused on investing in early-stage technology companies. Since 2000, RTP Global has partnered with over 100 founding teams across Europe, Asia, and North America, and one in ten of the companies RTP Global backed went on to become multi-billion dollar companies. Notable early-stage investments for the firm include Datadog, Delivery Hero, SumUp and Cred.