Monese seeks funding to sustain operations as losses widen

Monese, the fintech company based in London, has issued a warning about potential severe impacts on its operations if it is unable to obtain additional funding. This caution comes after the release of their recent financial reports, which showed significant losses.

Monese, known for its multi-currency accounts and money transfer services, reported a loss of £30.5m in accounts for the year ended 31 December 2022, representing a 63% rise from the previous year.

According to the company’s report, the losses were due to considerable cost hikes caused by its growing customer base. Both direct costs and administrative expenses experienced a significant increase.

One of the key expenditures included a greater allocation of funds towards developing its platform’s technology and expanding to keep up with growing needs. Throughout the year, the company maintained an average of 349 employees on staff.

Despite a significant rise in Monese’s customer base, their revenue only increased by approximately 60%, reaching £27.7m. Unfortunately, this was insufficient to counterbalance the increasing costs they faced.

According to the firm’s director’s report, there is some uncertainty regarding the success of future fundraising and its impact on the company’s going concern status.

The tech startup funding landscape has been difficult, as evidenced by a 54% decrease in UK venture capital funding in 2023.

In 2022, the company successfully obtained £42.3m through equity funding, which also included a noteworthy investment from HSBC in September of that year. To date, Monese has accumulated over $200m (£158m) in funding since its establishment in 2015, with notable contributions from PayPal and Investec.

According to Monese’s directors, they are reasonably confident that the company will continue to successfully secure additional funding.

Monese stated that, at its current phase of development, the group heavily relies on securing ample new funding to support its ongoing operations and future expansion goals.