U.K.-based neobanks, otherwise known as “challenger banks,” continued to court investors with significant funding rounds this week. London-based company Revolut may now be the most valuable fintech in the U.K. and one of the most valuable fintech startups in Europe. Bank Automation News looks at this week’s highlights.

Revolut

Neobank Revolut on Thursday announced a $800m series E funding round from Softbank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global Management, bringing the fintech’s valuation to $33 billion.

“This funding round makes Revolut the U.K.’s most valuable fintech, demonstrating investors’ confidence that we can deliver products that raise the bar for customers’ expectations across the whole financial services industry,” Nikolay Storonsky, Revolut founder and CEO said in a statement.

The company, founded in 2015, noted that the current fundraise will be devoted to growth, specifically product innovation and an expansion of offerings to U.S. customers, as well as entry into India and other international markets.

Revolut’s “super app” allows users to manage their finances from a single app, including account management, investing and bill sharing. Users also have access to multicurrency accounts and other transactions, such as buying stocks, commodities and cryptocurrencies. The fintech has more than 16 million retail customers and 500,000 business customers worldwide, Lesley Smith, Revolut’s vice president of corporate communications and public affairs, told Bank Automation News.

“Challenger banks are building digital platforms to orchestrate the end-to-end experience needs for the customer lifecycle needs,” Ronak Doshi, vice president at research and consulting firm Everest Group, told BAN.

Smith told BAN there are no immediate plans for the fintech to go public.

Tide

Challenger business bank Tide announced Monday a $100 million series C funding round led by the Apax Digital Fund. The oversubscribed round resulted in a valuation of more than $650 million for the U.K.-based fintech.

“The embedding of financials products in customer life events by partnering with ecosystem entities via APIs on a single platform creates a SUPER (Secured, Ubiquitous, Personalized, Easy, and Responsive) banking experience,” Everest’s Doshi told BAN. “Tide is extending this concept for [small and midsized business] customers, where they are creating a digital finance platform that enables SMBs to manage their finances better by providing a unified view of their cash flow and accounts.”

Tide, founded in 2015, serves about 6% of U.K. businesses. Earlier this year, the fintech announced an expansion into India, with a full launch of the platform expected in 2022.

“Partnering with Apax Digital validates Tide’s potential to continue our growth trajectory and gain traction in global markets,” Tide CEO Oliver Prill said in a statement.

Railsbank

Railsbank, an embedded finance platform provider, on Wednesday announced a $70 million fundraise led by Anthos Capital. The U.K.-based fintech did not reveal its current valuation, although co-founder and CEO Nigel Verdon did tell BAN that the company is “near unicorn” status.

The fintech, which was founded in 2016, provides banking-as-a-service and cards-as-a-service products based on APIs to manage and distribute money in real time. “The ability to consume the financial services offered via APIs through the customer preferred channel to manage their own experience needs is what differentiates Railsbank versus other challenger banks building the embedding banking or super-app offerings,” Doshi told BAN.

The latest funding round will be used for developing Railsbank’s platform in key markets in the U.K., Europe, APAC and North America. “There is the possibility of acquisitions, as we consider tactical purchases to support our organic growth,” Verdon told BAN.

Verdon described Railsbank as the “only embedded finance platform directly connected into central banks, payment schemes and soon credit markets, so does not inherit all the Byzantine risk management, operations and costs of the industry legacy, thus enabling our customers a far purer embedded finance experience, free of legacy gatekeepers.”