Fintech Monese merges with UK-based company Pockit

London-based fintech Monese, founded by Estonian entrepreneur Norris Koppel, has merged with UK-based company Pockit. The deal will see Monese's minority shareholder, Estonian Tera Ventures, take a stake in Pockit. In addition, Pockit and London-based VC Puma Growth Partners will invest £15M in the integration of the two fintech companies. Further financial terms of the deal were not disclosed. 

The companies will continue to operate independently until the integration is complete. Following the acquisition, the combined business will continue to provide banking services to customers in the UK and EU, serving approximately 3M customers in over 30 countries. Norris Koppel will remain with the combined company after the merger. The founder and CEO of Pockit Virraj Jatania will lead the expanded company.

Pockit will receive Monese’s e-money and consumer lending licenses, as well as the benefit of a closely aligned customer base and complementary products. In addition to its existing digital accounts, salary advances, and credit debt services, the deal will allow Pockit to launch new services such as Monese's multi-currency accounts.                                                                                                                              

Founded in 2015 by Norris Koppel, Monese is a mobile multi-currency account and accompanying debit card that supports cash deposits and withdrawals. No credit checks are required and customers do not need to provide local proof of address, but they do need to provide a photo ID and a selfie and be an EU or UK resident. The platform can convert pounds sterling, euros, and Romanian lei into 16 European currencies. Monese has over 2M customers in 31 countries.      

Tera Ventures is an international investment firm based in Estonia. The founding partners are Andrus Oks and Stanislav Ivanov. Tera Ventures invests €45M from its second fund in startups from the Baltics states, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Poland, and the Czech Republic. In May 2024, Tera Ventures acquired a stake in Monese.  With the deal, Swedish VC Kinnevik, US PayPal, International Airlines Group, London-based VC Augmentum Fintech and financial services organization HSBC exited Monese.  

Founded in 2014 by Virraj Jatania, Pockit is a UK-headquartered financial technology company that provides financial services to more than 900K customers. The company offers a UK digital current account and a prepaid Mastercard.