LONDON: British-based banking app Revolut's latest US$33 billion valuation, achieved after a fresh funding round, has likely made its cofounder and Chief Executive Nik Storonsky a billionaire several times over.
Storonsky left the banking industry in 2013 to found Revolut, one of the first in a wave of digital-only banking apps seeking to undercut mainstream lenders with products such as fee-free foreign exchange for holidaymakers. "The fact that Revolut's valuation has risen 6x in a year where they also reported increased losses will add fuel to the fire that fintech valuations have become overblown," said Adam Davis, director of client services at fintech consultancy 11:FS.Revolut's growth was fuelled by a hard-charging culture seemingly instilled by Storonsky himself. He has dismissed the value of work-life balance in media interviews and said he typically works from 8 in the morning until 10 at night.
"We are a different company than we were two to three years ago, we’ve learned lessons,” he told Reuters when asked about the problems in a 2019 interview.