Allica Bank has become Europe’s newest unicorn after raising a $155m Series D funding round.
Founded in 2011, Allica Bank is a London-based digital bank catering to over 30k small and medium businesses (SMBs) across the UK. The neobank topped Sifted’s 250 in 2024, a ranking of the 250 fastest growing startups in Europe in order of highest compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in revenue over a three year period.
The funding round, which gave Allica a close to $1.2bn price tag, included investors such as Ventura Capital, GLG, Sona AM and existing investors TCV and Blue Owl. The majority of the round is in ordinary shares, alongside a portion issued as additional Tier 1 equity capital, a loss-absorbing regulatory instrument used by banks.
Allica joins an exclusive club of Europe’s billion-dollar fintechs. Other companies to score unicorn valuations in the past year include AI fintech Cleo and Danish payments fintech Flatpay.
The company says it will use the capital to grow its lending portfolio and deepen investment into its tech stack, including using AI in the lending process. It’s also preparing to expand outside of its home of the UK for the first time.
“We’re building the category defining digital bank for established SMBs, and are excited to be taking our proprietary platform into new markets,” says CEO Richard Davies. “This Series D investment is a major vote of confidence in Allica’s strategy and performance.”
