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Starling Bank IPO

Everything you need to know

There’s speculation that British fintech company Starling Bank is looking to have an initial public offering (IPO) take place within the next couple of years. Learn more about the company’s potential IPO date, valuation, and recent financial reports, as well as how to get involved with Starling’s upcoming listing.

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UK flag logo
FCA regulated
FSCS logo
Segregated funds
LSE logo
LSE listed
Trustpilot

2022/2023

Starling going public

£1.1bn+

Starling's valuation

600% YoY

Starling’s revenue increase

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What does the company offer?

Starling Bank is a licensed and regulated digital challenger bank founded in 2014 with headquarters in the City of London. The company offers personal, business and joint accounts, alongside a child card, teen account option, and a variety of lending products. It has additional offices in Southampton, Cardiff, and Dublin.

Through its Banking-as-a-Service (BaaS) model, Starling also offers B2B banking and payments services using its branded technology platform. Its Marketplace in-app also offers customers access to third-party financial services. The company has more than 2.5 million customers as of 2022.

When is Starling Bank’s IPO date?

An official date hasn’t been set for Starling, but the IPO is expected to take place at some point in 2022 or 2023. As it’s a London-based and founded company, it’s more than likely that the company will float on the London Stock Exchange (LSE), which has seen the debuts of other fintech businesses such as Wise, Darktrace and Trustpilot in recent years.

To stay up to date with current and future IPOs​, use the sign-up box below to register your interest, and we’ll send you an email when Starling Bank has listed on its chosen exchange.

What is Starling Bank’s valuation?

Following an investment round led by Fidelity in 2021, Starling Bank is valued at over £1.1bn, according to CNBC. The company raised £272m in March, giving it “unicorn” status in the UK.

In comparison with large-cap banking giants like HSBC (£110bn), Lloyds (£36bn), and NatWest (£27bn), this valuation may seem miniscule, but the company is determined that it will continue to grow and perhaps currently targets a more niche sector. As of 2022, it accounts for 5% of the UK’s small business banking market, with 300,000 small business clients.

What will Starling Bank’s share price be?

An official share price hasn’t yet been revealed. As with most IPOs, this specific information will be revealed closer to the IPO date, so check back here for updates.

How to trade on the IPO

1. Open an account

Choose whether you want to spread bet or trade CFDs on our derivative share products. In the meantime, you could practise trading on Starling's competitors with virtual funds on a demo account.

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2. Register your interest

By entering your email into the sign-up box above, we will notify you when Starling Bank has listed on its chosen exchange.

3. Pick a strategy

Choose whether you want to go long (buy) or go short (sell). Please note that some trading restrictions may apply on initial trading.

4. Manage your risk

Learn how to apply stop-loss and take-profit orders on your positions to minimise capital loss as much as possible.

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Does the company have strong financials?

According to its latest financial report in July 2021, Starling Bank announced revenues of £97.6m, a 600% uplift from just £14m in the previous fiscal year’s results. Losses after tax were also cut in half, down to £23.3m from £52.1m the previous year. The company attributed this to the amount of lending on its books, which soared to £2.2bn from a lower base.

The bank became profitable for the first time in October 2020 and has made a profit each month since then. In the second quarter of 2021, sales reached £42.8m, giving it an annualised revenue run rate of more than £170m. It also saw customer accounts double and deposits grow by 500%.

Please note that past performance is not a reliable indicator of future results.

Why may investors be interested in Starling Bank?

Starling has received support from many well-known private equity and venture capital firms over the years, including Fidelity Management & Research, JTC, Millennium Management, Jupiter, and Goldman Sachs Growth Equity. It plans to use this money to expand its services into Europe, as well as for anticipated mergers and acquisitions.

There was speculation in 2020 by The Times that banking giants such as JP Morgan and Lloyds were looking to takeover Starling, but this has been denied by CEO Anne Boden herself in favour of floating its shares on the stock market, which would provide the company with more autonomy and opportunity for growth.

As the world becomes increasingly digital-focused, Starling Bank shows no signs of slowing down, even becoming profitable during the Covid-19 pandemic, which is an impressive achievement for a fintech company. In contrast, rivals such as Monzo reported a drop in valuation during the pandemic due to increased losses and lack of profitability, although this company has since bounced back, boosted by a new funding round lead by Abu Dhabi Growth Fund.

Are there any drawbacks?

Although the company is showing positive progress, its larger competitors still swamp the company in terms of market cap, revenues, customer base. However, while the likes of Monzo and Revolut have 2x and 8x, respectively, the number of Starling’s customers, they hold less than 60% of the deposits, as personal banking customers hold an average balance of £2,000 with Starling, making them potentially more valuable.

According to Sifted, CEO Anne Boden has maintained that the company prefers to put emphasis on profitability rather than attempting to raise its £1.1bn valuation. Although it’s looking to capture the right investors, which are categorised as older with higher deposits, Starling will need to keep up with its rivals in terms of product offering and new technological developments, and avoid falling into the trap of being sensible but not innovative enough for investors.

Discover Starling Bank’s competitors

Wise
- All clients
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88% of CMC client accounts with open positions on Wise expect the price to rise.

Nu Holdings
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100%
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100% of CMC client accounts with open positions on Nu Holdings expect the price to rise.

PayPal
- All clients
97%
Long

97% of CMC client accounts with open positions on PayPal expect the price to rise.

SoFi Technologies
- All clients
97%
Long

97% of CMC client accounts with open positions on SoFi expect the price to rise.

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Client sentiment is provided by CMC Markets for general information only, is historical in nature and is not intended to provide any form of trading or investment advice – it must not form the basis of your trading or investment decisions.

FAQS

What other fintech companies are expecting an IPO?

Other British neo-banks speculated to be having an IPO within the next year include Monzo and Revolut, as well as US digital payments company Stripe and Swedish buy-now-pay-later leader Klarna. See a full list of potential upcoming IPOs for the year ahead.

Is Starling Bank a real bank?

Yes, Starling Bank is a licensed bank and is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) in the UK. Other examples of banks you can trade on with us include Barclays [BARC], Lloyds [LLOY], and HSBC [HSBA].

Disclaimer: CMC Markets is an execution-only service provider. The material (whether or not it states any opinions) is for general information purposes only, and does not take into account your personal circumstances or objectives. Nothing in this material is (or should be considered to be) financial, investment or other advice on which reliance should be placed. No opinion given in the material constitutes a recommendation by CMC Markets or the author that any particular investment, security, transaction or investment strategy is suitable for any specific person. The material has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research. Although we are not specifically prevented from dealing before providing this material, we do not seek to take advantage of the material prior to its dissemination.

Download our app to trade on-the-go

Download our mobile app for iOS or Android to get started. Once Starling has listed on its chosen exchange, you will be able to spread bet or trade CFDs on our Starling Bank share price.