UK’s new bank Griffin completes Series A funding round with $13.5m raised

The UK recently got a brand new bank called Griffin, which was officially licensed, and it held a Series A funding round. The funding round was a huge success, allowing the institution to raise as much as $13.5 million. The round was led by MassMutual Ventures, while other noteworthy participants included existing investors such as Notion Capital, Seedcamp, and EQT Ventures.

What services can Griffin offer to its users?

As mentioned, Griffin is a very young, newly-licensed bank. It was initially established as a Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) platform and only received its license from UK authorities this March. With the license, the institution received permission to start acting as a banking institution, although it is still subject to certain restrictions.

This means that the firm can hold a limited amount of money that its customers can deposit. It is also limited in terms of the number of payment services that it can offer.

However, the new bank is ready to work now that it has successfully completed its Series A funding round. It has already shared some plans regarding what it intends to do with the money. It revealed that the funds would be used to prepare its exit from the so-called mobilization phase, which will set it down the road to becoming a fully-licensed, official bank.

The bank’s CEO, David Jarvis, commented on the new development. He said that the funding round’s success validates the bank’s mission and strategy. More than that, it also equips it with the resources that will allow it to continue delivering its innovative solutions to more customers. Naturally, the bank’s main goal is to attract as many new users as possible, and the success of the funding round will help the bank prove its legitimacy and show that it has great support.

Griffin launches its first product

Griffin was built from the ground up with the intention of serving brands and fintechs that seek to embed finance. As such, it will be able to offer bank accounts and even offer interest-bearing savings accounts. Apart from that, its customers will have access to the country’s payment rails, an integrated ledger, cards, as well as automated compliance technology.

After concluding its funding round, Griffin also launched its first BaaS product — Verify. The product is intended to help fintechs with risk management and also with automating KYB and KYC checks. Apart from that, it will also play a role in streamlining customer onboarding.

So far, the company has had a very successful start, even managing to raise a total of £32.5 million since inception, which was back in 2020. Since then, it has already onboarded its first customer — Liberis.