In this digital era, Banking-as-a Service (BaaS) is an integral part of the banking industry to meet the growing needs of customers. Right now, the UK is leading the open banking movement with regulatory effort. There are lots of companies that are actively pioneering BaaS strategies and one among them is Griffin.
Based out of London, Griffin is a Bank-as-a-Service platform (BaaS), providing client money accounts and payments for fintechs and other money service businesses.
Raised £6.5 million
Recently, the company has raised a £6.5 million round led by EQT Ventures. Other investors including Seedcamp, Tribe Capital, Paul Forster (co-founder Indeed.com), Matt Robinson (co-founder GoCardless/Nested), and Carlos Gonzalez-Cadenas (COO GoCardless) also participated in the round. This new round follows the company’s previous £3 million seed round announced earlier this year.
Every company needs a banking partner, a ledger, and the necessary compliance infrastructure to launch a financial services product,” said David Jarvis, co-founder, and CEO at Griffin. “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 the 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.”
How will the funding be used?
The company will use the funding to further product development, hire more people, and continue the bank authorisation process with the PRA and FCA. To date, Griffin has raised a total of £9.6M in funding over 3 rounds.
API-first
Founded in 2017 by David Jarvis (CEO) and Allen Rohner (CTO), Griffin offers an API-first bank that will dramatically lower the barrier to entry when it comes to launching new financial products and services. The UK company aims to become the banking partner of choice for both new fintech players and established brands seeking to innovate.
Reduces go-to-market time from months to weeks
Its proprietary API platform will let firms open ring-fenced accounts for customer funds while its integrated compliance engine and ledger will greatly reduce record-keeping and reconciliation burdens. The companies working with Griffin will be able to self-serve and start integrating immediately, reducing their go-to-market time from months to weeks, claims the company.
Tom Mendoza, deal partner and investment advisor at EQT Ventures, said: “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.