Revolut

Overview

Revolut is a London-headquartered financial technology group and licensed bank, founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko and run as a consumer and business superapp. It began as a multi-currency card and now spans current accounts, savings, investing, business accounts and mobile plans. For 2025 it reported revenue of about USD 6 billion, up 46 percent, and pre-tax profit of GBP 1.7 billion, a fifth consecutive profitable year, with retail customers up 30 percent to 68.3 million. On 11 March 2026 the Prudential Regulation Authority granted Revolut Bank UK Ltd full authorisation as a UK bank.

Why this entity matters

Revolut matters to DACH readers less as a UK story than as the clearest example of a European consumer bank built at continental rather than national scale. First, scale: 68.3 million retail customers at the end of 2025 puts it an order of magnitude above every German-headquartered neobank, reached while serving the EU for most of its history from a single Lithuanian banking licence passported across the bloc, and the company states that one in five working-age adults in Europe now uses the app. Second, unit economics: about USD 6 billion of revenue with about USD 2.3 billion of pre-tax profit, a 38 percent pre-tax margin against 35 percent in 2024, inverts the assumption, common in DACH after a decade of loss-making challenger banks, that consumer fintech cannot be profitable at scale; and the profit is not concentrated in one line, with eleven product lines each above roughly USD 135 million of revenue. Third, competitive pressure: it passed three million German customers in January 2026, placing it directly against N26 and Trade Republic at home.

Company history and product

Revolut was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky, a former derivatives trader, and Vlad Yatsenko, an engineer with a banking-infrastructure background. The first product was a prepaid multi-currency card offering interbank exchange rates to travellers. Products were then layered onto the same app: budgeting, savings vaults, stock and commodities trading, cryptocurrency access including the dedicated Revolut X exchange, insurance, business accounts and eSIM mobile plans. Paid tiers — Plus, Premium, Metal and Ultra — sit alongside a free Standard tier and form a significant revenue line with interchange, foreign exchange, wealth and net interest income on balances, up 66 percent to GBP 50.2 billion in 2025. The 2025 disclosure gives its shape: subscriptions turnover of USD 936 million and card payments of USD 1.3 billion; a lending portfolio up 120 percent to USD 2.9 billion, mainly unsecured personal loans and credit cards; and transaction volume of USD 1.7 trillion. Revolut Business reached 767,000 customers and 16 percent of group income. Launches in 2025 included zero-commission ETF plans in the EEA and Switzerland and Revolut Mobile in the UK and Poland. Funding tracked the same curve: a Series C of USD 250 million in April 2018 at a reported USD 1.7 billion valuation, a Series E of USD 800 million in July 2021 led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global at USD 33 billion, an employee secondary in August 2024 reported at USD 45 billion, and a further secondary on 24 November 2025 at USD 75 billion. On licensing, the ECB granted a specialised bank licence through the Bank of Lithuania in December 2018, the Prudential Regulation Authority granted full UK authorisation on 11 March 2026, and a French licence approved by the ACPR and the ECB was announced on 10 August 2026.

Role in the DACH startup and technology ecosystem

Germany is Revolut's largest DACH market and one of six core Western European markets. German customers were first served from Revolut Bank UAB in Lithuania under EU passporting; from October 2024 the company issued German IBANs and migrated accounts to the German branch of Revolut Bank UAB, registered with BaFin. It reported around two million German customers in October 2024 and passed three million in January 2026, an increase German trade press put at close to 20 percent in a few months. That puts it ahead of Berlin-based N26, which reported more than four million active users across all markets in 2025, and alongside Trade Republic, which works from a German banking licence granted by the ECB in 2023. German reporting on the January 2026 milestone described Revolut as Europe's largest digital bank, with about 70 million customers across 39 countries. Austria and Switzerland are served through the same European licensing structure rather than separate national banks. In April 2026 it confirmed a Paris headquarters for Western Europe within a stated EUR 1 billion regional investment that includes Germany, placing the operational centre of gravity for its DACH business inside the euro area.

Selected relationships and affiliations

Co-founders: Nikolay Storonsky, chief executive, and Vlad Yatsenko. Group entity: Revolut Group Holdings Ltd, London. Regulated entities: Revolut Bank UK Ltd, authorised by the Prudential Regulation Authority; Revolut Ltd, authorised by the Financial Conduct Authority for e-money and payment services; Revolut Bank UAB in Lithuania, whose German branch is registered with BaFin; and a French entity announced in August 2026. The July 2021 Series E was led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2 and Tiger Global. The November 2025 secondary share sale was led by Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer and Fidelity, with Andreessen Horowitz, T. Rowe Price and NVIDIA's NVentures participating.

Startuprad.io relevance

Revolut appears in the Startuprad.io graph as a reference point for European scale-up outcomes rather than as a DACH-native company. It is the comparison case that recurs whenever a German challenger bank's growth, licensing route or profitability is discussed. Five posts are recorded against it, in the European unicorn and venture-capital cluster and in DACH startup news.

Public source context

The 2025 financial and customer figures and the corporate structure are corroborated by Revolut's results statement https://www.revolut.com/en-US/news/revolut_reports_record_profit_of_2_3bn_for_2025_as_revenue_surges_to_6bn/ and by CNBC. The November 2025 secondary sale and USD 75 billion valuation come from Revolut's own announcement https://www.revolut.com/news/revolut_completes_fundraising_process_establishing_75_billion_valuation/ ; the 2018 Series C and 2021 Series E are corroborated by Revolut's newsroom and by TechCrunch. EU licence: https://www.lb.lt/en/news/banking-licence-granted-to-revolut-bank-uab . German data: https://www.heise.de/en/news/Neobank-Revolut-DE-IBAN-for-German-accounts-9962876.html and the January 2026 milestone in WirtschaftsWoche. Secondary-sale valuations are transaction prices between investors, not audited enterprise valuations.

Startuprad.io coverage of Revolut

Revolut appears in the following Startuprad.io interviews, analysis and long-form profiles.

Unicorn Nation: Mapping Europe's Billion-Dollar Success Stories
Published: 18 December 2024
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/unicorn-nation-mapping-europe-s-billion-dollar-success-stories

Top European Tech Startups to Watch in 2024
Published: 18 October 2024
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/top-european-tech-startups-to-watch-in-2024

Growth-Stage Funding for Startups - Bridging the $375 Billion Gap
Published: 19 December 2024
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/bridging-the-375-billion-gap-challenges-and-solutions-for-europe-s-growth-stage-startups

From $43B to $426B: How Europe Became a Venture Capital Powerhouse
Published: 13 December 2024
Last updated: 14 August 2026
Coverage type: Analysis
https://www.startuprad.io/post/from-43b-to-426b-how-europe-became-a-venture-capital-powerhouse

German, Swiss, and Austrian Startup News of March 15th
Published: 15 March 2026
Last updated: 27 August 2026
Coverage type: News
https://www.startuprad.io/post/german-swiss-and-austrian-startup-news-of-march-15th

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Canonical record: https://www.startuprad.io/entities/revolut