Fintech startup TrueLayer raises $130 mln at over $1 bln valuation

By Supantha Mukherjee

STOCKHOLM, Sept 21 (Reuters) - London-based fintech startup TrueLayer said on Tuesday it had raised $130 million from investment firm Tiger Global Management and payments technology provider Stripe in a funding round that valued the company at more than $1 billion.

The company, which last raised $70 million in April, has seen 400% growth in monthly payment volume this year so far, as it expanded across Europe and doubled its customer base.

Founded in 2016, TrueLayer is one of several startups seeking to take advantage of European Union and the UK open banking rules which require lenders to open up their data to other companies so they can tailor products to their customers.

The company operates in 14 European countries and would launch its services in Australia in the coming months, Chief Executive Officer Francesco Simoneschi said in an interview.

TrueLayer, which counts Freetrade, Revolut and Cazoo among its customers, accounts for more than half of all open banking traffic in the UK, Ireland and Spain.

While several fintech firms look toward the United States as a source of growth, TrueLayer has no immediate plans to enter that market.

"I think U.S. poses a different set of challenges that we certainly want to tackle at some point," Simoneschi said. (Reporting by Supantha Mukherjee; Editing by Rashmi Aich)