Founded in 2020 by former staffers at credit scoring startup Clearscore, Yonder offers users a credit card with rewards such as meals at high-end restaurants, tickets to events, and points toward flights. The startup charges a £15 (around $18.80) monthly subscription fee for this.
The startup began by focusing on expats in the UK who didn’t have a credit score, but it now caters to a wider market of non-expat customers living in cities like London, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol, and Bath.
“It’s a really tough time for fundraising fintech startups, so we’re super proud of the raise we’ve been able to secure in this climate,” Tim Chong, Yonder CEO and cofounder, told Business Insider. “We haven’t seen many consumer fintechs raise recently, especially at our stage,” he said, adding that most of them are at the pre-IPO or very early stage.
The company’s funding was led by Repeat (formally Jigsaw) and RTP Global, plus existing investor Latitude, the sister fund of LocalGlobe.
It follows a $78 million debt and equity raise in April 2023, led by Northzone. Yonder claims its latest raise is a significant up round, resulting in a post-money valuation of more than $132 million.
“We’re building for the long-term horizon, and we’ve generally found that investors who think long-term and are bullish in the space really get us,” Chong added. “It was definitely tough though — there was a lot more focus on unit economics, payback times, and long-term profitability this time round.”
The company said it will use the new funding to expand its 45-strong team to around 60, while aiming to keep head count lean, Chong said. In addition, Yonder said it’s targeting European expansion and is keeping track of customer travel locations to decide on its next step.
Check out Yonder’s 11-slide pitch deck below:
