Only 13 fintech unicorns in Europe are profitable, according to data collected by Sifted. Financial superapp Revolut, crypto investment platform Bitpanda and payments fintech SumUp are among the companies that have reported pre-tax profits in their latest publicly-available annual results.
The results follow a particular testing period for the fintech sector. Faced with mounting compliance demands and rising interest rates, VC funding for the sector fell from a high of $29bn in 2021 to $8.8bn last year as investors began to prioritise profitability over growth-at-all-costs.
That renewed focus on profitability has started paying off for some. Thirteen of Europe’s fifty fintech unicorns are operating in the black, as high interest rates have buoyed revenues, particularly for neobanks. Sifted has listed all of them below.
Bunq — Netherlands
Founded in 2012, Amsterdam-based Bunq provides digital mobile banking services with free savings account, quick account opening, currency support, travel insurance and user-controlled investments including stock trading. It is eyeing UK and US expansion after announcing its first full-year of profitability in January 2024.
Pre-tax profit: €53.1m
Revenue: €186.6m
Bitpanda — Austria
Founded in 2014, Vienna-based Bitpanda is a regulated crypto trading platform which offers investors access to more than 500 cryptocurrencies. After surviving the crypto winter, it launched a B2B product, providing the scaffolding to fintechs and traditional banks to offer investment services including stocks, crypto and exchange-traded funds (ETFs). It has recently secured approval from the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to launch in the UK. Its backed by investors including Valar Ventures, Redo Venture, LeadBlock Partners and Jump Capital.
Pre-tax profit: €13.6m
Revenue: €147.6m
ClearBank — UK
Founded in 2015, London-based ClearBank builds infrastructure for financial institutions, like fintechs and traditional banks, to build their own financial services. Its cloud-based API provides real-time clearing access. Mark Fairless, formerly ClearBank’s CFO, recently succeeded cofounder Charles McManus as CEO.
Pre-tax profit: £18.4m (€21.2m)
Revenue: £111.35m (€128.4m)
Klarna — Sweden
Swedish fintech Klarna was founded in 2005 and helped mainstream its flagship buy now, pay later checkout option, which enables shoppers to delay or split payments across interest-free installments. With more than 90m customers across 26 markets, it’s one of Europe’s most famous fintech exports. Last Friday the company filed its IPO prospectus, confirming its desire to list on the New York Stock Exchange.
Pre-tax profit: $33m (€33m)
Revenue: $2.8bn (€2.5bn)
Monzo — UK
Founded in 2015, London-based Monzo is a neobank which was launched as a basic current account product and has since expanded into stocks and shares, buy now, pay later and pension products. It is currently eyeing an IPO amidst internal debate over where it should list. It’s raised more than €1.5bn in primary funding from investors including CapitalG, Tencent and Passion Capital.
Pre-tax profit: £15.4m (€18m)
Revenue: £880m (€1bn)
OakNorth — UK
OakNorth is one of the rare UK neobanks to consistently report profitability almost every year since its founding in 2015. Earlier this month, the SME bank reported its eight consecutive year of profitability.
Founded in 2015, OakNorth primarily makes money by providing financing options to small and medium enterprises. In 2024, it provided more than £2.1bn of gross new lending, growing its lending books to £12.5bn from £10.2bn in 2023.
Pre-tax profit: £214.8m (€255m)
Revenue: £282.9m (€335m)
Lendable — UK
Founded in 2014, London-based Lendable is a digital lending platform which allows customers to instantly borrow up to £20k. As it isn’t a bank, it uses institutional capital to fund the loans and allows its investors to keep the interest and pockets the intermediary fee. Its notoriously discrete founders have kept the startup largely under the radar, despite its success.
Pre-tax profit: £10.5m
Revenue: £56.3m
Raisin — Germany
German deposit broker Raisin was founded in 2012 and hit profitability for the first time last year. The company operates an online platform that allows consumers to compare savings accounts and deposit their money with banks. Raisin is backed by investors including Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and PayPal Ventures.
Pre-tax profit: €1m
Revenue: €158m
Revolut — UK
Founded in 2015, London-based Revolut is a neobank which began as a financial travel app and has since ventured into business banking, insurance and trading. It is currently pushing to become a fully licensed bank in the UK, and is rumoured to be pursuing a lucrative IPO next year, with the company’s leadership reportedly leaning towards a US listing rather than London. It became Europe’s most valuable fintech in August 2024 when it upped its valuation to $45bn in an employee share sale. Investors include SoftBank Group and Tiger Global Management.
Pre-tax profit: £438m (€505m)
Revenue: £1.8bn (€2.1bn)
SumUp — UK
Founded in 2012, London-based SumUp is a payments hardware fintech which produces card readers and payment solutions for small businesses, taking as low as 0.99% transaction fees. Its main product is an EMV (Europay, MasterCard and Visa) card reader. It’s raised funding from investors including Bain Capital, BlackRock, HV Capital and Fin Capital.
Pre-tax profit: €873k
Revenue: €188.1m
Starling — UK
Founded in 2014, London-based Starling is a neobank which banks and lends to retail customers and small and medium enterprises (SMEs). After the UK’s Financial Conduct fined the challenger bank £20m for “shockingly lax” financial crime controls in October last year, the startup says it has introduced additional safeguards. It’s raised more than €1bn in funding from investors, including the Qatar Investment Authority, Goldman Sachs and Fidelity Investments.
Pre-tax profit: £301m (€352m)
Revenue: £682.2m (€808.6m)
Trade Republic — Germany
Founded in 2015, Berlin-based Trade Republic is a neobroker and bank which provides trading and saving products, including commission-free trading for retail investors. The startup has picked up more than €1bn from VC heavyweights Sequoia, Accel, Project A, Creandum and Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. The Financial Times reported that Trade Republic turned a profit for the first time in 2023 but declined to share additional financial information.
Pre-tax profit: Not disclosed.
Revenue: Not disclosed.
Zopa — UK
Founded in 2005, London-based Zopa began as a peer-to-peer lender and has since developed digital banking services, including launching savings accounts and credit cards. It raised €80m at the end of last year in a round led by Danish investment firm A.P Moller Holding, providing capital for the neobank’s push into new product verticals like current accounts and a GenAI-powered financial assistant.
Pre-tax profit: £15.8m (€18.7m)
Revenue: £226m (€267.9m)
Read the orginal article: https://sifted.eu/articles/profitable-fintech-unicorns/
