Monese

Monese Ltd was incorporated in October 2013 by Norris Koppel and launched in 2015 as a mobile current account for migrants and others who struggled to open high-street bank accounts, later adding a banking-as-a-service platform. It raised a $60M Series B led by Kinnevik in 2018, with PayPal, Augmentum Fintech, IAG's Avios and Investec taking part, bringing total funding to $76M, and in 2022 HSBC invested $35M as a strategic partner. Losses widened to £30.5M in 2022 and the accounts flagged material uncertainty about future fundraising. HSBC wrote its 5.4 per cent stake down to zero. In September 2024 Pockit lent Monese money and on 10 October 2024 announced it would acquire the company for an undisclosed sum, with Puma Growth Partners committing up to £15M to fund integration. The B2B platform was separated into XYB. The legal entity remains active under Pockit's ownership.

Acquired by Pockit in October 2024 for an undisclosed sum, subject to FCA change-in-control approval, after Pockit had lent it cash the previous month; HSBC wrote off its investment, Virraj Jatania of Pockit leads the combined business and founder Norris Koppel stayed on only through integration. Monese Ltd is still an active company.