Challenger credit card Fintech Yonder announces a raise of $15.5 million (£12.5 million) in equity and $62 million (£50 million) in debt following its Series A funding round.
The investment 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 $87m.”
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 the UK 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 authorization 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, personalized picture of its customers’ spending habits based on transaction data, instead of relying on traditional credit checks alone.”
Yonder’s rewards program “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.”
As noted in the update:
“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.”
Yonder is extending its round “with a crowdfund open to both members and non-members, now open for pre-registration.”
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