Monzo's biggest investor reduces stake

Monzo’s biggest investor has reduced its stake in the digital bank.

Passion Capital, one of Monzo’s earliest backers, has seen its holding shrink to 23 per cent, down from 40 per cent at its peak about four years ago.

The app-based bank, launched in 2015, has more than five million customers.

Speculation is mounting that the bank is preparing for an IPO, but it is understood there are no immediate plans for any listing – at least over the next year and a half.

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I read that yesterday. It could be that they are are gearing up for an IPO, although you can’t rule out that some investors might not view them as attractively post-pandemic.

Or simply decided that the money they already invested is enough. They’re not actively reducing their stake, they’re just letting it dilute by not investing more money

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That’s what I thought….

Agreed, but don’t let the facts get in the way of a click bait headline :joy:

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Just read the article again - must admit I didn’t see the bit about their investment being diluted as other investors have come on board. The article is split halfway down by various ads and I thought I’d hit the end of the article!

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If you think there’s a lot more run in the company you’d attempt to not be diluted I’m guessing? Maybe they decided that the value of Monzo to them was at the last round they invested in and that the valuations in the subsequent rounds outpaced it’s intrinsic value as it sits today so they would just reap any further rewards from further raising valuations?

You’re not alone - I’m guilty of the same!

You can only guess at their internal strategy, but they’ll definitely be looking at monzo in the context of all their holdings and current strategy. There’s much greater room for diversification in fintech now than when monzo launched, imo, so it’s likely they’re simply investing in a broader range of startups and letting some larger investments stagnate to balance out