Andy Murray joins revolut crowdfunding round

Tennis champ Andy Murray is one of tens of thousands of investors to have pledged to join a multi-million pound crowdfunding round for digital banking outfit Revolut. More than 40,000 Revolut customers from 55 countries clamoured to pre-register for the crowdfund, meaning that £17 million has been pledged, although the startup is only looking to raise £4 million to complete its £50 million Series B funding round.

World number one Murray has committed to invest in the firm as part of his long-term partnership with Seedrs, the London-based equity crowdfunding platform, according to finextra.com. The tennis ace joined the Seedrs Advisory Board in 2015 and has since regularly used it to make investments.

Revolut promises customers the ability to open an account in 60 seconds, make free international money transfers with 16 currencies in-app with the interbank exchange rate and spend fee-free globally with a contactless MasterCard.

Last week, the outfit launched personal IBAN accounts across Europe allowing customers to have their salary paid directly into their Revolut account. Also in the pipeline is cryptocurrency integration, allowing customers to hold, spend, exchange and transfer internally in Bitcoin, with Litecoin and Ethereum soon to follow.

For business customers Revolut recently launched business accounts across Europe, allowing companies to hold, exchange and transfer in 25 currencies with the interbank exchange rate, issuing employees corporate cards for global fee-free spending.

Nikolay Storonsky, CEO, Revolut, says: “We are incredibly excited to open our Series B round to as many members of our 750,000 strong community as possible through our crowdfund on Seedrs. Word of mouth by our loyal customer base is the reason that Revolut has achieved so much in just two years.”

After just two years, Revolut has gained over 730,000 customers across Europe who have collectively transacted over $3.2 billion. In July 2016, our £1m crowdfunding campaign was oversubscribed by over 10,000 would-be-investors who pledged to invest £17m. We have also raised a total of $83m investment from some of Europe’s most well-known Venture Capital firms including Index Ventures, Balderton Capital and Ribbit Capital.

„We’re on a mission to build the future of money beyond banking, and you can be a part of it. We believe that today’s hyper-connected world deserves a financial partner just as progressive. One that adapts to your needs, gives you control and constantly pushes you into new exciting spaces. Free international money transfers, fee-free global spending – at the interbank exchange rate. Business or Consumer, Revolut is the ultimate banking alternative designed for your global lifestyle.” the company says.

„Over the next year, we intend to take Revolut global. We’re aiming for 50 million customers globally in 3 years.”