PREMIUM — Card-issuing platform Marqeta sees a lot of potential in working with challenger banks across Europe, and to fuel this opportunity, the Oakland, Calif.-based company took in $45 million in funding, Jason Gardner, founder and CEO, told Bank Innovation.

Investors in this funding round include VC firm ICONIQ Capital and Goldman Sachs. The new round, announced today, brings Marqeta’s total funding to $116 million. Last June, the company received $25 million strategic investment, led by Visa.

Currently, Marqeta is preparing for its London launch this year. Marqeta already has an office in Europe, but plans on using the funds to build out that team as well as its U.S. team, Gardner said.

“One thing that’s very interesting to us in Europe is the challenger banks,” Gardner said. “If you look at card-related products, a lot of them are supporting the core business of these companies. Just look at challengers like N26 or Revolut, the opportunity is immense.”

Challenger banks or neobanks rose to popularity in Europe, particularly following the PSD2 regulation mandate, which required banks to open their data to third-party service providers and fintechs. These fintech/bank hydrids tend to be mobile-first and digital-only. While some of them have banking licenses, like U.K.’s Metro Bank, others like Berlin-based N26 work with partners on this front.

But one thing they all have are cards – debit and credit, generally powered by either Visa or Mastercard, both partners of Marqeta. Europe could give Marqeta a huge push in its customer reach.

In fact, Omri Dahan, Marqeta’s chief revenue officer, told Bank Innovation that its virtual card business is already on pace to grow four times its current size in 2018. Dahan did not reveal a specific number, but it’s safe to assume that the challenger banks will play a role in helping Marqeta reach that goal.

Just yesterday, N26 announced it crossed one million users, and Revolut announced it had more than two million. Metro Bank has 1.2 million accounts, and Monzo previously told Bank Innovation, that it adds 60,000 new current accounts per month, with “zero” acquisition cost. It currently has 360,000 active users.

Last year Marqeta doubled its North America customer base, and has “already hit the sales target for the year,” Dahan said, though no specific numbers were disclosed.

Aside from market expansion, Dahan said, Marqeta could be launching products and services in areas like alternative lending, where virtual cards play an important part.