Europe gets a new unicorn; Mambu, valued at $2.08bn

Top 10 Unicorns in Europe by value

1 – Klarna (Sweden). Valuation: $10.65bn. Sector: fintech

2 – Bolt (Estonia). Valuation: $4.3bn. Sector: transport

3 – Northvolt (Sweden). Valuation: $3.55bn. Sector: energy

4 – Otto Bock (Germany). Valuation: $3.5bn. Sector: healthcare

5 – N26 (Germany). Valuation: $3.5bn. Sector: online banking

6 – Celonis (Germany). Valuation: $2.5bn. Sector: IT Services

7 – Sportradar (Switzerland). Valuation: $2.4bn. Sector: software

8 – Collibra (Belgium). Valuation: $2.36bn. Sector: software

9 — Nucom (Germany). Valuation: $2.36bn. Sector: media

10 – Mambu (Germany) Valuation: $2.08bn. Sector: fintech

(There are a total of 60 unicorns in Europe)

Source: CB Insights (UK not included)

Since the beginning of the year, Germany has one more unicorn (startup company valued at more than €1 billion): In its most recent financing round, the Berlin startup Mambu was valued at $2.08 billion (€1.75 billion). This makes Mambu, which is developing Cloud-based solutions for banks, is the fifth most expensive European fintech unicorn behind N26.

Mambu sells banking software to lenders, and their unique approach is called “composable banking,” a flexible offer in which the organisation can select the elements it needs.

“Mambu is the world’s only true SaaS (Cloud) banking platform to help you evolve your business. Plug in integrations for simple, streamlined and automated customer journeys. Configure and integrate instead of coding and customising. Harness the power of cloud instead of on-prem deployments. Constantly improve and be nimble, ready for constant change,” the company website explains.

The Gartner Group consultancy gives it a rave review. “Mambu is the only pure SaaS cloud banking platform available on the market today. Mambu offers many flexible banking products very efficiently to its customers. Mambu has helped us pivot and start new adventures without the need of cumbersome avenues to deal with traditional banks.”

Venture capital investors are clearly convinced: They’ve put about €110 million into the startup. In addition to well-known former shareholders such as Bessemer Venture Partners and the Munich Etsy investor Acton Capital, the money came primarily from the Netflix financier TCV from Silicon Valley and from Tiger Global. Last year, Mambu was able to benefit from the fintech boom as financial services companies gear up to emerge from the pandemic,  according to the company’s CEO and co-founder Eugene Danilkis.

“With Mambu, implementation happens in months, integration takes minutes and updates happen constantly,”Danilkis adds, in an interview with EU-Startups.

“We are living in the fast-paced fintech era. The world has shifted to customer-focused banking and lending. Customers are accustomed to intuitive, savvy services from Amazon and Netflix, so now they are looking at their banks with new eyes. They are demanding better experiences and starting to expect that from their financial institutions. Banks and financial institutions have no excuse for not delivering these types of services as the technology exists. The customer experience has become tech-enabled – fintechs are offering superior and cheaper experiences.”

The company has seen 100 per cent growth in the past year, Mambu has a global network​ of nearly 500 employees​ that supports ​180 customers in over 65 countries. ​It counts N26, OakNorth, ABN AMRO and Orange amongst its extensive list of customers.​

100% digital Islamic bank

Mambo is indeed flexible: It has in March announced the launch of the Sharia-compliant version of its SaaS banking platform. One of the first customers to benefit from the Mambu’s product is Bank Islam Malaysia Berhad, a Malaysia-based bank that is currently in the process of launching a new 100 per cent digital Sharia-compliant bank.

The solution caters to the needs of Islamic banks and lenders globally, becoming the first Cloud-native platform  to comply with the tenets of Islamic banking.