Headcount Growth Of 10 Most Mentioned European B2C Challenger Banks (Update)

A snapshot from June 2015 to June 2018

Updated version of https://bit.ly/2K6Ogf9 , published in June 2017.

By definition “a B2C challenger bank is a lean retail bank set up with the intention of competing for business with large, long-established banks.”

While most of the traditional retail banks still struggle to shift their business from offline to online and finally to mobile new agile and ambitious B2C challenger banks have entered the market and strive to offer the best possible mobile banking experience.

Dozens of them have launched in the past years and some of them were able to gain promising traction:

• Atom (UK): https://www.atombank.co.uk/
• Bunq (NL): https://www.bunq.com/
• Fidor (DE): https://www.fidor.de/
• Loot (UK): https://loot.io/
• Monese (UK): https://www.monese.co.uk/
• Monzo (UK): https://monzo.com/
• N26 (DE): https://n26.com/
• Revolut (UK): https://revolut.com/
• Starling (UK): http://starlingbank.co.uk/
• Tandem (UK): https://tandem.co.uk/

Headcount Growth:

Depending on their strategies and capabilities the above mentioned challenger banks raised notably venture capital rounds allowing them to extensively grow their internal structures to scale operations.

• The snapshot includes 10 of Europe’s most mentioned challenger banks in alphabetical order.
• The statistics show the headcount growth from June 2015 until June 2018 based on the total number of LinkedIn members employed at each company over time.
• Not all employees may be active on LinkedIn or have linked their personal profile with the official company profile, however the statistics provide valuable representative insights on headcount growth.
• Independent contractors might support the challenger banks too, but are not included in the internal headcount statistics.
• Some challenger banks have set up holding structures and are organized in multiple subsidiaries, however the majority of employees should be covered by the statistics provided below.
• The general assumption is that 4/5 (80%) of all employees are active on LinkedIn and/or linked to the official company profile. This results in a assumed variance of 1/5 (20%).

1. Atom (UK based):

• Founded in: 2014*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 240
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 254 (+14) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 305 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2MVgbwn

Atom from June 2015 to June 2017

Atom from June 2016 to June 2018

2. Bunq (NL based):

• Founded in: 2013*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 78
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 84 (+6) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 101 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2lxXsug

Bunq from June 2015 to June 2017

Bunq from June 2016 to June 2018

3. Fidor (DE based):

• Founded in: 2003 / 2015*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 54 (Fidor Bank)+ 67 (Fidor Solutions)= 121
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 90 (Fidor Bank)+ 98 (Fidor Solutions)= 188 (+67) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 226 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2toVkJA

Fidor Bank from June 2015 to June 2017

Fidor Bank from June 2016 to June 2018

Fidor Solutions from June 2015 to June 2017

Fidor Solutions from June 2016 to June 2018

4. Loot (UK based):

• Founded in: 2014*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 38
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 34 (-4) 📉
• Estimated internal headcount: 41 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *CrunchBase profile: https://bit.ly/2yFCdjC

Loot from June 2015 to June 2017

Loot from June 2018 to June 2018

5. Monese (UK based):

• Founded in: 2013*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 53
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 85 (+32) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 102 (due to LinkedIn variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2MRAM4t

Monese from June 2015 to June 2017

Loot from June 2016 to June 2018

6. Monzo (UK based):

• Founded in: 2015*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 85
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 238 (+153) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 286 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2KfftLH

Monzo from June 2015 to June 2017

Monzo from June 2016 to June 2018

7. N26 (DE based):

• Founded in: 2013*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 157
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 387 (+230) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 464 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2tpYblF

N26 from June 2015 to June 2017

Monzo from June 2016 to June 2018

8. Revolut (UK based):

• Founded in: 2015*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 67
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 361 (+294) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 433 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2Kjcdfk

Revolut from June 2015 to June 2017

Revolut from June 2016 to June 2018

9. Starling (UK based):

• Founded in: 2014*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 85
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 149 (+64) 📈
• Estimated internal headcount: 179 (due to 20% Linkedin variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2tqDGFq

Starling from June 2015 to June 2017

Starling from June 2016 to June 2018

10. Tandem (UK based):

• Founded in: 2013*
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2017: 111
• Internal headcount according to LinkedIn in June 2018: 101 (-10) 📉
• Estimated internal headcount: 121 (due to LinkedIn variance)
• *Crunchbase profile: https://bit.ly/2Keu6Mg

Tandem from June 2015 to June 2017

Tandem from June 2016 to June 2018

Top 3 in a nutshell:

Total employees in June 2017:

1. Atom: 240 (estimated 288 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)
2. N26: 157 (estimated 188 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)
3. Fidor: 121 (estimated 145 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)

Total employees in June 2018:

1. N26: 387 (estimated 464 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)
2. Revolut: 361 (estimated 433 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)
3. Monzo: 238 (estimated 286 due to 20% LinkedIn variance)

6M Growth (June 2018 – 6 Month):

1. N26: +42%
2. Revolut: +34%
3. Starling: +25%

1Y Growth (June 2018 – 12 Month):

1. Revolut: +193%
2. Monzo: +118%
3. N26: +98%

2Y Growth (June 2018 – 24 Month):

1. Revolut: +533%
2. Monzo: +406%
3. Starling: +292%

If you need help to launch or accelerate your fintech business, simply get in touch with me via LinkedIn or drop me a line: c.wilhelmer@winventure.com

Published by Claudio Wilhelmer on 24.06.2018 | © 2018 All rights reserved.