London, March 11, 2024—‌ Griffin, the full-stack Banking as a Service (BaaS) platform, today announced that it has received approval from the UK’s financial services regulators, the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) and Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), to lift restrictions, allowing Griffin to exit mobilisation and launch as a fully operational bank. Griffin’s launch follows a successful mobilisation period, and is supported by a $24 million (£19 million) funding round led by MassMutual Ventures, NordicNinja and Breega, with participation from existing investors Notion Capital and EQT Ventures.

“This pivotal moment is only possible because of the support of our investors, the guidance from our regulators and the commitment of our people. A big thank you to all our existing investors and a warm welcome to all our new investors. We look forward to working with all our investors in this exciting new chapter for Griffin.”

"Today’s announcement is a culmination of years of hard work by the incredible team at Griffin. I’m particularly grateful to our pilot customers for placing their trust in us, and look forward to helping them continue to scale innovative products at the intersection of technology and finance." David Jarvis, CEO of Griffin, added.

Griffin offers a full-stack platform for technology-driven firms looking to offer banking, payments, and wealth solutions to their customers. Griffin’s automated compliance technology and integrated ledger enable its customers to streamline their financial operations while continuing to deliver high-quality service to their customers.

"Griffin is exactly the sort of founder-led business that we look to back," said Dan Shellard, Partner at Breega. “The hard work the team has done over the last several years in building their own core banking platform and securing a UK bank licence has them incredibly well positioned to power this generation of innovative financial products‍—‌and the next.”

As part of its launch, Griffin has reiterated its commitment to building an enduring business of consequence, and aims to embed sustainable business practices at every level. From day one, the bank has invested in a deeply human and ethical culture with robust governance and financial controls. Today, it is a member of Tech Zero and is actively working to reduce its carbon footprint and minimise its environmental impact.

Two of the round’s co-leads, NordicNinja and Breega, are EU Article 8 funds with a heavy focus on sustainability.

"We are hugely impressed with Griffin’s level of emphasis on ethical business practices and sustainability," said Marek Kiisa, co-founder and a Managing Partner at NordicNinja. Jesse Saarela, Principal at NordicNinja also added, “The team’s commitment to helping their customers as well as everyone impacted by their business is very unique, and I am looking forward to working with them further.”

Griffin is poised for accelerated growth and is committed to scaling responsibly as pilot customers go live. The bank will also take on new customers via its early access programme, Foundations. Griffin will work closely with Foundations participants to help them enhance their offering with seamless, contextual finance embedded directly into their customer experience.

“Our continued support for Griffin is a testament to its extraordinary progress to date,” said Ryan Collins, Managing Partner at MassMutual Ventures. "As the UK's first full-stack BaaS platform with a banking licence, Griffin is the partner of choice for fintechs and brands to build innovative financial products with a seamless client experience."

Interested in working with Griffin? Apply to join Foundations.

About Griffin

Griffin (Griffin Bank Ltd) is an API-first UK bank and full-stack Banking as a Service platform. It was founded by Silicon Valley engineers, David Jarvis and Allen Rohner (who co-founded tech unicorn CircleCI) and is led by a team of banking and technology executives from Form3, Swift, Barclays, Virgin Money, Lloyds and more. Griffin is backed by leading investors Breega, EQT Ventures, MassMutual Ventures, NordicNinja, Notion Capital, and Seedcamp. Griffin is regulated by the PRA and the FCA. Griffin’s Firm Reference Number (FRN) is 970920.

Learn more: www.griffin.com | Inquiries: press@griffin.com

About MassMutual Ventures

MassMutual Ventures (MMV) is a multistage global venture capital firm investing in financial technology, enterprise SaaS, healthtech, climate technology and cybersecurity companies. With teams based in London, Singapore, and Boston, MMV manages over $1 billion in investment capital across the globe. We help accelerate the growth of the companies we partner with by providing capital, connections and advice. With our deep expertise and extensive network, MMV helps entrepreneurs build compelling and scalable companies of value.

Learn more: www.massmutualventures.com

About NordicNinja

NordicNinja is a founder-led VC firm with deep engineering expertise. Launched in 2019, NordicNinja is the largest Japan-backed VC fund in Europe and has a focus on investing in scaling companies with the world’s #1 teams that contribute to a more sustainable and digital society. We provide support to founders from an experienced Japanese-European team of founders, engineers, and operators turned investors, and access to a global network of 120+ blue chip Japanese corporations.

Learn more: www.nordicninja.com

About Breega

Breega propels pioneering and purpose-driven founders from idea into impact. We closed our first fund in 2015 and now have +€600m AUM and 100+ trailblazing portfolio companies. Crafted for founders by founders, we built Breega to provide start-ups with the help we wish we'd had. And we’ve created an investment proposition that’s purposefully designed. We call it full stack funding: providing capital and connections, expertise and experience, support and solidarity for entrepreneurs at every step of their journey. We invest across Europe and internationally, focusing on pre-seed to Series A and above.

Learn more: www.breega.com