Mubadala invests in Revolut: Partnership with Ambitions

The state investor Mubadala from Abu Dhabi has acquired a stake in Revolut for the first time by participating in a stock sale that valued the London-based fintech company at $45 billion and earned founder and CEO Nik Storonsky at least $200 million. Other investors included Coatue, D1 Capital Partners, and Tiger Global, who, along with Mubadala, purchased $500 million worth of shares from Revolut employees in August. However, the exact size of Mubadala’s investment could not be immediately determined. Storonsky, who co-founded Revolut in 2015, sold shares worth approximately $200 to $300 million in this transaction. This represents about half of the total transaction value, according to a person familiar with the matter. The proceeds could help Storonsky further expand his venture capital fund, QuantumLight, which he founded two years ago. QuantumLight aims to identify the next generation of technology winners through AI-powered investing. Prior to the sale of his shares, Storonsky’s equity stake would have been worth approximately $8 billion at a $45 billion valuation, according to an analysis by the Financial Times. Mubadala’s entry comes at a time when the sovereign fund is ramping up efforts to invest capital in Europe, the most active region for venture capital deals after North America. According to data provider PitchBook, Mubadala has participated in at least 28 European deals over the past five years, accounting for more than a fifth of its global transactions. Although Mubadala had previously invested in the Swedish fintech Klarna, it had not previously supported Revolut. The stock sale to Mubadala comes as Revolut pursues its aggressive global expansion. The fintech received a long-awaited UK banking license in July, which it hopes will enable further regulatory approvals in key markets, including the US. License applications had been delayed due to issues such as an auditor warning that the majority of revenues in 2021 might be 'materially misstated' before the problem was resolved. Revolut has over 45 million customers worldwide, including approximately 9 million in the UK. It holds an EU banking license from authorities in Lithuania and received one in Mexico this year. The company achieved a pre-tax profit of £438 million in 2023, following a loss of £25 million in 2022. Japanese investor SoftBank, which had participated in previous funding rounds for Revolut, was not involved in the recent sale after being forced to give up its preferred share category to comply with UK regulatory requirements.