Allianz X co-leads European mobile bank N26’s Series C round

• Allianz X co-leads N26’s Series C Funding Round with Tencent Holdings Ltd
• The transaction strengthens Allianz’s position in the digital financial services sector
• Funding will be used primarily for N26’s overall growth strategy and international expansion in the U.S. and UK

Allianz X, the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, announced that it co-led N26’s $160 million Series C funding round and joins its Board of Directors alongside a list of notable investors. The funding round includes contributions from additional investors, including existing shareholders.

“N26 is a clear frontrunner in mobile banking,” said Solmaz Altin, Chief Digital Officer of the Allianz Group. “N26’s banking platform is modernizing traditional business models of financial services, ultimately providing a better customer experience.“

“Our strategic investment will further strengthen our existing relationship with N26, which started with Allianz Partners in 2016,” said Dr. Nazim Cetin, CEO of Allianz X. ”We see multifaceted links to build up a strong partnership between N26 and the broader Allianz Group.”

N26 offers retail banking products and financial services in an easy and transparent platform built bottom-up for the smartphone. Since launching in January 2015, N26 has more than 850,000 customers across 17 European markets and employs over 380 people to date. This Series C funding will be used toward N26’s overall growth strategy and international expansion, particularly into the U.S. and UK later this year. It will also support product development for existing markets and the implementation of artificial intelligence to make N26’s banking experience smarter and more personalized.

“We are excited about this investment and are looking forward to supporting the talented team of N26. This step fits very well with our digital strategy and will help us to better understand how to simplify processes and products,“ said Klaus-Peter Roehler, CEO of Allianz Deutschland. N26 has processed over 9 billion euros in transaction volume to date, with a projected volume of more than 13 billion euros in 2018 alone. Their goal is to reach more than 5 million customers by the end of 2020.

“We are very pleased to have Allianz X and Tencent leading our Series C. Not only are they powerhouses in their respective fields of financial and internet services, but they also understand the power of intelligent technology and design to disrupt industries,” says Valentin Stalf, CEO and co-founder, N26.

N26 is The Mobile Bank. Built bottom-up for the smartphone, N26 has redesigned banking to make it simple, fast and contemporary. Valentin Stalf and Maximilian Tayenthal founded N26 in 2013 and launched the initial product in early 2015. N26 was built from scratch based on the demands of banking customers looking for a modern banking experience, which is easy to use, transparent and available everywhere and everytime.

Thanks to its fully digital business model, N26 operates on a much lower cost base with lean organisational structures, without IT legacies and without an expensive branch network. N26 passes on these cost benefits to its customers. N26 partners with the most innovative Fintechs and traditional financial companies to offer its customers best-in-class products such as TransferWise (foreign exchange), Raisin (savings), Clark and Allianz (insurance), auxmoney (credit) and others. Since January 2015 N26 has raised more than $215 million from renowned investors including Allianz X, Tencent Holding, Li Ka-Shing’s Horizons Ventures, Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures and Earlybird Venture Capital.

Allianz X is the digital investment unit of the Allianz Group, one of the world’s leading insurers and asset managers. Allianz X invests in digital growth companies that are part of our ecosystems related to insurance: Mobility, Connected Property, Connected Health, Wealth Management & Retirement, and Data Intelligence & Cybersecurity. We provide an interface between portfolio companies and the digital ecosystem within Allianz as well as drive innovation across Allianz’s operating entities and global lines of business..

These assessments are, as always, subject to the disclaimer provided below.

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