Three years ago, European fintech looked like it was becoming a healthy source of public listings.
In 2021, Europe’s fintechs raised a total of $28bn across 15 public listings according to Dealroom, thanks in part to some blockbuster IPOs from the likes of money transfer app Wise and property finance platform LendInvest.
But after the pandemic funding bubble burst, public markets have been on ice, and European exchanges have been particularly sleepy.
Only $1bn was raised from London’s public markets this year, pushing the UK capital to 20th place in a ranking of global IPO venues compiled by Bloomberg — behind Oman, Turkey and Malaysia.
That’s a sharp comedown from 2021 figures, when the UK capital recorded $23.4bn in fundraising volume and was expected to host many of Europe’s blockbuster fintech IPOs.
And even though we are seeing signs of life with buy now, pay later fintech Klarna filing for a public listing in November, the company chose the US as its destination, in a sign that Europe may struggle to hold onto its most valuable fintechs as they scale.
With that in mind, we thought it would be a good time to look ahead and identify the fintechs that could follow in the Swedish fintech giant’s footsteps.
To do so, Sifted pulled a long list of European scaleups that were founded between 2005 and 2020, have hit unicorn valuation and raised $100m in funding from Dealroom. We’ve cross-referenced with public statements of intent from companies this year and reached out for comments ourselves to narrow the list down.
Revolut
Revolut became Europe’s most valuable fintech in August 2024 when the UK financial superapp upped its valuation to $45bn in an employee share sale. That came only weeks after the company reported record profits of £438m and secured its long-awaited UK banking licence.
Achieving those milestones has heightened talk of the fintech going public. In March this year, Revolut’s UK CEO Francesca Carlesi told Bloomberg that it remained open to a UK IPO.
“The UK is our home and is also one where a lot of our investors come from,” she said. “We know that companies are always better off to list where their biggest market is.”
But speaking on the 20VC podcast in December, CEO Nik Storonsky talked up the US over the UK as a possible IPO location, describing it as “not rational” to go public in London because of the lack of liquidity on the UK capital’s stock exchange.
A Revolut spokesperson declined to comment further.
Founded: 2015
HQ: UK
Last raise: Secondaries, August 2024
Investors: Tiger Global, Coatue, D1 Capital Partners
N26
N26 was once considered close to going public; in 2020, Reuters reported that the German neobank was set to IPO in 2023 but that never materialised. In an interview earlier this year, CEO Valentin Stalf amended its pathway to IPO for the next three to five years.
An N26 spokesperson declined to share any additional information.
Founded: 2013
HQ: Germany
Last raise: $900m, October 2021
Investors: Dragoneer, Coatue, Earlybird, Thirdpoint Ventures, Tencent
SumUp
Payments hardware fintech SumUp has raised more than $662m in funding and is currently valued at $8.5bn, according to Dealroom.
In a November press release SumUp underlined that while an IPO remains a possibility, it’s in “no hurry” to go public.
“SumUp is focused on creating sustainable value and exploring various strategic opportunities, and having reached the point of positive operating cash flow, we have many options available to us,” said SumUp CFO Hermione McKee at the time. “Our priority is growing the business and continuing to innovate for the benefit of our merchants for the long-term, rather than rushing toward a public listing.”
Founded: 2012
HQ: UK
Last raise: €1.5bn debt, May 2024
Investors: Bain Capital, Blackrock, HV Capital, Fin Capital
Monzo
This year, Monzo has raised capital across three different funding rounds as well reporting its first full-year in the black, putting it in a better position than ever before to go public.
The UK neobank further fuelled IPO rumours by adding two executives to its C-suite in November, appointing former exec at Brazilian neobank Nubank Tom Oldham as group CFO and former Barclays investment banker Mark Newbery for the role of UK CFO.
A Monzo spokesperson declined to give any further details on its IPO intentions when contacted by Sifted.
Founded: 2015
HQ: UK
Last raise: Secondary, October 2024
Investors: Passion Capital, Accel, General Catalyst, Coatue, CapitalG, Hedosophia
Qonto
French B2B banking unicorn Qonto has raised more than $600m in funding since launching in 2016. And while it’s not yet profitable, it’s touted as one of Europe’s fast-growing fintechs with over 450k customers and turnover in the several hundreds of millions, according to Sifted reporting.
Still, an IPO is still a few years away for the company, CEO Alexandre Prot said at Accel’s Fintech Summit in October last year. “We’re very happy to remain private for a couple more years at least,” he said.
A Qonto spokesperson declined to give any further information when contacted by Sifted.
Founded: 2016
HQ: France
Last raise: €486m Series D, January 2022
Investors: Alven, Valar Ventures, DST Global, Tiger Global, Eurazeo, Tencent
Starling Bank
UK digital bank Starling reported its third year of profitability in a row in 2024. During the earnings call, interim CEO John Mountaine reiterated its commitment to a public listing and described the London Stock Exchange as the “natural home” for the fintech.
In June 2024, former HSBC exec Raman Bhatia became CEO; founding CEO Anne Boden stepped down in 2023.
A Starling Bank spokesperson told Sifted: “An IPO remains under consideration, but we’re in the fortunate position of generating capital rather than needing to raise capital externally. That means we can wait for the right opportunity and evaluate all possible avenues.”
Founded: 2014
HQ: UK
Last raise: £131m, April 2022
Investors: Goldman Sachs, Fidelity Investments, Qatar Investment Authority
Thought Machine
Cloud banking software provider Thought Machine has raised more than $560m in funding and is currently sitting on a $2.7bn valuation. In September last year, CEO Paul Taylor told City A.M. that Thought Machine was “definitely going to IPO” and would be “very keen to list in London.”
A Thought Machine spokesperson declined to give further details.
Founded: 2014
HQ: UK
Last raise: $160m Series D, May 2022
Investors: Eurazeo, Temasek, Molten Ventures, Backed VC, ING Ventures
Zilch
Founded in 2018, Zilch has raised more than £306m equity funding and is currently valued at $2bn. In November, the buy now, pay later fintech joined the wave of fintechs raising funding through secondary share sales.
CEO Philip Belamant has been open about the company’s intention to go public, telling Sifted in November that an IPO will likely happen in the next 18-24 months. Belamant declined, however, to confirm the location where the company would list.
“How will the world and this business look in two years?” he says. “It could look very different, so it’s very hard to say whether it would be here or there [the US].”
Founded: 2018
HQ: UK
Last raise: £50m debt, October 2024
Investors: Deutsche Bank, M&S Fund, Goldman Sachs
Bunq
Dutch neobank Bunq was bootstrapped by its founder CEO Ali Niknam until it raised an external funding round in 2021 at an $1.9bn valuation. Niknam told Sifted in September that it’s planning to grow its workforce by 70% before the end of the year, ahead of its expansion to the UK and the US.
The company has also previously indicated it’s mulling over a potential IPO in London.
“While an IPO has always been a personal dream for our founder and CEO, it’s not in our immediate plans. Right now, our priority is maintaining rapid global growth while staying laser-focused on our users,” a Bunq spokesperson told Sifted. “When we do decide to go public, we will look first and foremost at the wants and needs of our users. For example, while London presents certain regulatory advantages, the US and the EU are larger economic blocs where more of our users are located.”
Founded: 2012
HQ: The Netherlands
Last raise: $31m, April 2024
Investors: Pollen Street Capital and Raymond Kasiman
OakNorth
OakNorth, a neobank focused on small and medium enterprises (SMEs), reported a pretax profit of £187.3m for the financial year of 2023.
In May CEO Rishi Khosla warned that the UK capital was looking “less attractive on a relative basis” than other markets. In August, OakNorth secured regulatory approval to operate in the US, paving the way for the fintech to list across the pond. The company has previously indicated it’s leaning towards the US as a possible location for its IPO.
An OakNorth spokesperson declined to comment on the company’s IPO intentions.
Founded: 2015
HQ: UK
Last raise: $440m, February 2019
Investors: SoftBank, Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, The Clermont Group and Vision Fund
Zopa
UK digital bank Zopa reported a pre-tax profit of £15.8m last summer, joining the circle of fintechs that posted annual results in the black in 2024. And, in December, it also announced an €80m raise as it pushes into new products such as current accounts and investments.
Though it’s considered one of the top fintechs candidates for a public listing, CEO Jaidev Janardana told Sifted he’s in no rush. “Of course, closer to the moment you have to think about all options, but I would think the natural thing would be to [IPO] in the UK.”
When contacted by Sifted for this story, a Zopa spokesperson said that “an IPO is not an immediate priority” for the fintech. “We continue to plan towards an eventual IPO, preferably in the UK and can be ready in a short time, however we will wait for the right macroeconomic and market conditions,” they said.
Founded: 2005
HQ: UK
Last raise: €82m Series E, December 2024
Investors: Augmentum Fintech, Northzone, Bessemer Venture Partners, SoftBank
Payhawk
Corporate payments fintech Payhawk has raised more than $236m in venture funding since it launched in 2018. The company, which combines credit cards, payments and expenses into one platform, has also been open about its intention to pursue an IPO.
“Our ultimate goal is to IPO the company, this is something we’re focused on,” CEO Hristo Borisov told CNBC in June. “This really depends on the market conditions and market realities.”
But those plans could be on hold. Payhawk reported a pre-tax loss of €34.7m last year — more than quadruple the €8.4m in the red it reported the year prior.
A spokesperson for Payhawk declined to give any further updates on its IPO intentions.
Founded: 2018
HQ: UK and Bulgaria
Last raise: $100m Series B, February 2022
Investors: Lightspeed Ventures, QED Investors, Hubspot Ventures, Bek Ventures
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/european-fintech-ipo-candidates/
