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Fintech

Zopa gains unicorn status as SoftBank leads $300m funding round

The lender is targeting ‘buy now, pay later’ expansion alongside 2022 listing plans

Zopa chief executive Jaidev Janardana said demonstrating profitability is paramount before the fintech firm goes public next year
Zopa chief executive Jaidev Janardana said demonstrating profitability is paramount before the fintech firm goes public next year Photo: Zopa

British digital bank Zopa is now a billion-dollar company, gaining the coveted unicorn title after raising $300m from major Japanese technology investor SoftBank.

The world’s oldest peer-to-peer lender said it had secured the capital from SoftBank’s Vision Fund 2, with participation from Chimera Capital and existing investors IAG Silverstripe, Davidson Kempner, NorthZone and Augmentum Fintech.

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