German smartphone banking app completes record equity financing round

BERLIN, March 20 (Xinhua) -- The smartphone banking app N26 has completed the largest single round of equity financing achieved by any fin-tech company in Germany so far, the newspaper Handelsblatt reported on Tuesday.

The Berlin-based firm raised 160 million U.S. dollars in venture capital, selling shares of its growing business to new investors including the German insurance firm Allianz and Chinese technology company Tencent in the process.

"Both (Allianz and Tencent) are not just leading companies in the financial services and internet services sectors, but also have a clear understanding of how technology and design can change the industry," a statement by N26 co-founder and CEO Valentin Stalf read.

In total, N26 has now received international investments worth 215 million dollars in its business which was founded in 2013.

The start-up secured its own banking license in 2015 and has already won 850,000 customers in 17 European countries. Stalf has described his firm as one of the world's fastest-growing financial institutions and hopes to mount a serious challenge to more traditional competitors in the retail banking market by targeting a young tech-savvy audience.

Whereas most fin-techs choose to partner with large and long-established firms, N26 has relied on an independent banking platform and co-operations with a range of other start-ups in the sector such as the British peer-to-peer money transfer service Transferwise. Enditem