2 weeks Ago By Lauren Towner
September 19 2024 Rewards credit card Yonder has raised £23.4 million in new funding, led by Dan Jones through Repeat (formally Jigsaw), Gareth Jefferies through RTP Global with support from Remus Brett through Latitude, the sister fund of LocalGlobe. The raise is a significant up-round, resulting in a post-money valuation in excess of £100m.
The new investment is earmarked to fund Yonder’s ambitious product, expansion and hiring plans, as it focuses on becoming the go-to rewards platform for travel, socialising and city exploration. These include proprietary travel benefits Flights and Stays which allow members to use points towards flights and hotels around the world, expansion into Europe and other international markets, and some significant new product developments that align with its mission to provide unparalleled financial access and seamless cash flow management. Now a team of 45, Yonder is looking to increase its headcount to support its growth plans.
This latest round follows the startup’s Series A fundraise of £12.5m in equity and £50m in debt in April 2023 , which enabled Yonder to accelerate its growth through extensive hiring, the expansion of rewards into new categories, and the launch of its city-based experiences in Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and Bath alongside London. More than 25 per cent of new members now join outside of the capital.
Yonder launched in spring 2022 with a unique take on rewards designed to rebuild consumer relationships with credit cards through a beautiful user experience, while encouraging responsible use of credit that helps their members build towards better financial futures. Yonder now offers monthly-changing rewards across dining and drinking, entertainment, lifestyle, online and a particular emphasis on travel, including the ability to use points towards flights with any airline, to any destination, at any time. The startup is growing at a rate of 3x YoY, with members having spent almost £200m and visiting Yonder’s Experience partners more than 60,000 times since launch.
Tim Chong, Yonder’s CEO and co-founder said: “Since our Series A raise we’ve grown steadily as interest in Yonder’s offering for young people has snowballed. We’ve capitalised on our momentum to raise this significant funding round, which will help to fund some monumental milestones in Yonder’s journey. “More than a fifth of our members’ spend each month is on travel, and the no FX fees abroad, points earned abroad and worldwide family travel insurance we offer already make Yonder a great companion for travellers.
But with the launch of Flights and Stays we’re continuing to deliver on our mission, and we’re excited to keep developing our offering in this area.” Dan Jones, founder and managing partner at Repeat (formerly Jigsaw) said: “Over the years we have backed a number of billion+ fintech companies at their early stages of growth where the differentiation was driven largely by frictionless UX and better service delivery of traditional products. Yonder builds on this with a new category of credit card offering specifically for the Millennial & Gen Z community – a huge segment of the market largely ignored by existing products.
The team’s impressive traction and deep fintech expertise makes us believe Yonder will lead the way in the next generation of consumer fintechs.” Tim Chong continued : “Whether you’re meeting friends for dinner in the city, or planning a weekend getaway in Europe, our vision is for Yonder to be the end-to-end ecosystem that can find travel options, give hotel recommendations and book restaurant tables for you – all done and redeemable from your app. “Securing this funding in the current climate is an incredible achievement for us and signals an exciting time in our journey.
We’re delighted to be backed by some brilliant investors who have once again seen and believed in our vision.” Tim Chong Yonder Dan Jones Repeat Yonder Repeat Fintech Fintech Crypto Fintech News.
