Led · Equity · Oct 2024

Koho is a consumer fintech that issues a Mastercard and offers tools for spending, earning, borrowing, credit-building, and budgeting. The company plans to use its recent financing to accelerate growth, expand its lending book, and launch new products. Management cites continued progress toward obtaining a Schedule 1 bank license as a strategic priority. Koho was founded in 2014 and is led by CEO Daniel Eberhard. The company completed a C$190M financing package (equity and debt) to support these initiatives. KOHO is a Canadian challenger bank that operates combined chequing and savings accounts through a mobile app. Customers can spend, save, and earn in one place and may opt into KOHO Save to earn 1.2% interest on their balance. In less than two years the company grew to more than 120,000 accounts, moved its headquarters to Toronto, and released 43 new versions of its app. KOHO says it builds open, intuitive financial products focused on empowering customers. The company plans to use the new funding to increase awareness of its current products over the next 12 months. The CEO also disclosed the round included secondary financing and that the deal did not change the board’s composition. KOHO is a Toronto-based fintech that offers a no-fee smart spending account, a reloadable Visa card that earns cash back, and an integrated app to help users spend and save. The company markets a Premium offering and is preparing Canada’s first prepaid metal cards, which have a 40,000-person waitlist. KOHO reported it reached 175,000 users roughly two and a half years after launch and maintains a 4.8/5 App Store rating. The company emphasizes transparent, mobile-first financial products aimed at simplifying consumers’ financial lives. KOHO says the new capital will allow it to continue delivering and scaling its product roadmap and mission to democratize financial services. Koho provides Canadians a mobile current account and a reloadable Visa card through an integrated app that offers real-time insights into spending. The app includes features such as instant cashback, round-ups and automated savings goals. Led by founder and CEO Daniel Eberhard, the company intends to build new products and services aligned with what Canadians need. Koho says it will use the latest funding to further accelerate growth. In less than two years the company has grown to over 120,000 accounts. It processes over $500 million in annualized transactions. Koho is a consumer fintech that launched in March 2017 with a millennial-focused platform designed to decouple the banking experience from traditional banks. The product offers spending insights, real-time purchase updates, e-transfers, access to 8,000 fee-free ATMs and a Koho card issued via a Visa partnership; Peoples Trust holds customer funds and Galileo processes transactions. The company has been covered since 2014 and previously disclosed a $1M round in May 2015 and additional funding from Power Financial a year later. Koho says it has reached a late product-market fit with consistent usage and healthy growth rates. The company plans to use new funding to scale its technology platform and hire engineering and operations staff at a new Toronto headquarters. Management describes the business as capital-intensive and expects to raise a larger round next year as it aims to reach a few hundred thousand Canadian users.

Led · Equity · Oct 2024

KOHO is an online challenger bank that offers consumer financial services and is pursuing a Schedule 1 federally regulated bank licence. Achieving the licence would allow KOHO to hold customer deposits, which management says would provide a significantly cheaper source of funding. The company has been raising equity over time and has totaled $507 million in equity capital to date, including a $40 million equity raise in 2024. The recent $130 million financing increased KOHO’s valuation to $1.33 billion. KOHO intends to use the proceeds to build its capital base and expand its product suite to meet regulatory requirements and support growth. Management has positioned the fundraising as the final piece needed to satisfy conditions for operating as a federally regulated bank.