Europe's New Fintech Unicorn, Revolut, Heads to America
*By Conor White*
Europe has a new unicorn.
The London-based fintech company Revolut announced last month it raised $250 million in Series C funding, bumping its valuation to $1.7 billion.
Revolut will use some of that money to jump across the pond to the United States.
"Given how aggravated people are with banking in general, we believe there's a huge market to go into the U.S. and cause serious disruption," said the Revolut chief marketing officer, Chad West. "So a huge amount of this capital will be expanding ourselves into the U.S., and building a real, innovative team out there."
In just 36 months, Revolut has raised $340 million, signed up more than 2 million customers in Europe, and has its sites set on conquering America and challenging companies like Robinhood.
"Right now Robinhood is purely on that road of wealth management and investments," West said Friday in an interview with Cheddar. "When Revolut comes to the U.S.A, there's nothing quite like us. We are the definition of a challenger bank."
For the full interview, [click here](https://cheddar.com/videos/london-based-fintech-revolut-plots-route-to-u-s).
Russia's invasion of Ukraine went hand in hand with cyberattacks against Ukrainian government websites and financial institutions. Cheddar News speaks with cybersecurity expert Karim Hijazi, CEO of Prevaillon, on why the Russian cyberwarfare is concerning to other nations.
Primit Parikh, Founder and COO of Transphorm, discusses how his company's utilization of gallium nitride semiconductors will prove to be a difference-maker in various sectors ranging from EVs to 5G.
Gino LoPinto, Operating Partner at E11EVEN Partners, discusses what E11EVEN Residences Beyond will have in store for potential buyers, and says his company has seen great success accepting crypto at both the E11EVEN Hotel & Residences and the E11EVEN nightclub so far.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine sent the stock markets into a frenzy for the end of the week. Managing Director of Equity Research at Wedbush Securities, Dan Ives joined Cheddar News to discuss the shifts he expects for the stock market going forward. "It's going to be volatile. Put on the seat belts. I think we'll look back six, nine months. This was an opportunity, not the time to sell, especially some of the high quality names within tech — Microsoft, Apple leading the charge," he said.
Even amid the Great Resignation, the cannabis industry saw major job growth. As of January 2022, the legal industry supported more than 428,000 jobs — a 33 percent increase year-over-year, according to the sixth annual jobs report from Leafly, a website focused on cannabis use and education. Yoko Miyashita, CEO of Leafly, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss. “You know we've got big moments coming ahead in New Jersey and New York with adult-use sales starting in New Jersey, hopefully by this fall, with New York quickly to follow," she said. "So we're hugely optimistic about the kind of job growth that those markets can drive with the right type of market setup.
