BEIJING, January 13 (TMTPOST) — French digital bank Qonto announced this week that it has completed its series D round financing at US$552 million, which existing investor Tencent participated in.

In January 2020, Qonto raised US$115 million in a financing round led by DST Global and Tencent.

Qonto’s new round of financing was led by Tiger Global and TCV. The financing is one of the biggest financing events in France’s tech startup scene, setting Qonto’s market valuation after US$5 billion. According to statistics from CBInsights, Qonto’s current valuation is only second to Back Market, a marketplace for renewed electronic devices valued at US$5.7 billion.

Qonto is one of many overseas challenger banks that Tencent has made an investment in. The Chinese Internet giant has also invested in British challenger bank Monzo, German bank N26 and New Zealand-based Tyme. Brazilian challenger bank Nubank, listed on NYSE, has received several investments from Tencent. Nubank is the most valued bank in Latin America.

The French startup scene has been receiving a lot of attention from investors. In December 2021, French challenger bank Lydia raised US$100 million in its Series C round financing. In less than one month, French startup PayFit that specializes in employee compensation and human resource management and retailing platform Ankorstore have also announced their financing round results. According to Reuters, the frequent financing events might be caused by factors such as low-interest rate, government investment policies and the pandemic.

Launched in 2017, Qonto mainly offers professional current accounts, payment cards and features that make banking and accounting easier for companies. Qonto has expanded its service to Spain, Germany and Italy. The French bank’s service starts from nine euros a month, serving around 220,000 people.

Qonto is planning to use the financing for product research and development, recruitment, and increasing its investment in Germany, Spain and Italy. The bank plans to enter new markets in 2023 and amass one million customers by 2025.

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