Griffin, a UK-based banking as a service (BaaS) provider, announced on Monday it secured £6.5 million through its latest investment round led by EQT Ventures with participation Seedcamp, Tribe Capital, Paul Forster (co-founder Indeed.com), Matt Robinson (co-founder Go-Cardless/Nested), and Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas (Partner at Index Ventures, former COO GoCardless). The funding round follows Griffin’s previous £3 million seed round, which was announced earlier this year.
Founded in 2017, Griffin reported is building an API-first bank that will dramatically lower the barrier to entry when it comes to launching new financial products and services. The company will use the investment to further product development, hire more people, and continue the bank authorization process with the PRA and FCA.
“Griffin aims to become the banking partner of choice for both new fintech players and established brands seeking to innovate. Its proprietary API platform will let firms open ringfenced accounts for customer funds while its integrated compliance engine and ledger will greatly reduce recordkeeping and reconciliation burdens.”
While sharing details about the company’s development, David Jarvis, Co-Founder and CEO at Griffin, stated:
“Every company needs a banking partner, a ledger, and the necessary compliance infrastructure to launch a financial services product. These systems all need to be kept in sync with each other, which is why it’s crazy that everyone ends up stitching together ad-hoc solutions rather than leveraging a single vertically integrated solution. With Griffin, we want to be the one-stop shop for companies seeking to bring something new to market. We’re thrilled to have found a partner in EQT Ventures that shares our vision and is coming to the table with such a deep understanding of the API banking landscape.”
Speaking about the investment, Tom Mendoza, Deal Partner and Investment Advisor at EQT Ventures, added:
“The EQT Ventures team have been following BaaS for a number of years, and we believe that Griffin has the right ingredients to be the winner in this space. We’re bullish due to the company’s unique approach – developer-first that integrates compliance, the ledger and bank (license) – and the incredibly strong founder-market fit. Also, timing couldn’t be stronger due to the combination of explosive fintech growth, consumer brands launching financial services, such as Apple, and the advent of embedded finance.”
