Durham-based Atom bank secures £50 million to fund growth

Durham-based fintech firm Atom bank has raised £50 million in its latest funding round, with plans to use the capital to invest in technology and growth, creating 50 jobs in the North East this year.

This marks the first major investment for Woodford Patient Capital Trust, who invested £10 million, with the remainder of the fundraising coming from Spanish banking group BBVA and investment funds Toscafund and Perscitus.

One of the UK’s first challenger banks, Atom has continued to grow since securing its banking licence in 2015.

The bank’s total lending for homeowners and small businesses has grown by 76 per cent in the past year to £2.4 billion, with deposits rising from £1.4 to £1.8 billion.

The first bank in the UK to be built exclusively for mobile, Atom is now seeing success in the mortgage market, receiving £20 million worth of business and £10 million worth of residential mortgage applications each week.

On the technical side of things, Atom is busy re-platforming its operations into the cloud and preparing to launch new products.

Bridget Rosewell, chairman at Atom said: “This latest raise recognises the enormous progress that we have made on our journey to disrupt UK banking, and is a clear signal of our investors support for our future plans.”

Mark Mullen, CEO at Atom added: “What’s important to customers is good products, good service and good value so that’s where we’ve spent the majority of our time and energy.

“We’re growing our team here in the North East and will add 50 new roles this year to help us expand the range of products and services we offer, starting with Instant Access savings in the autumn.

“More than ever we are convinced of the importance of Atom’s role to drive positive change in UK banking.”

Since its founding in April 2014, Atom bank has:

• Raised over £450 million in equity funding
• Built a team of around 350 permanent employees in the North East
• Has been ranked in the top 10 of KPMG’s ‘Global Fintech 100’ listing for each of the last four years
• Ranked 1st in Tech World’s Digital Challengers list
• Ranked 14th in LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’ 2017
• Voted the UK’s most recommended bank
• Launched 3 and 6 month and 1-, 2-, 3- and 5-Year Fixed Saver accounts (with £1.8 billion in deposits)
• Launched small business and residential mortgage mortgages (over £2.4 bllion)
• Secured will.i.am as a strategic board advisor for his perspective on culture, community and technology
• Launched a four-year STEM partnership with the Prince’s Trust in North East England
• Announced the Atom Incubator to support North East startups at their HQ in Durham
• Listed in the top 20 best places to work in the North East
• Featured in London Stock Exchange’s 1000 Companies to Inspire Britain 2019