Lydia bags €70 million Series B extension

Paris: Lydia, one of the fastest-growing mobile financial services platforms in Europe, today announced an extension of its Series B round, raising an additional approx. €70 million. The round was led by Accel, the global venture capital firm, and additionally, all major existing shareholders actively participated. The total Series B funding round now sits at around €107 million, making it one of the largest rounds ever raised by a French fintech.

Founded in 2013, Lydia is a fast-growing financial services platform, which aims to become the one-stop-shop for all the financial needs of the mobile generation. Co-founded by Antoine Porte and Cyril Chiche, Lydia has a 30% market share among French Millennials, who use its brand as a verb.

The new funding will be used to accelerate Lydia’s product roadmap to capture the shift in consumer preferences towards mobile-first apps with simple yet powerful digital banking and financial health capabilities. The company will also use the money to expand its geographic footprint. In 2020, Lydia laid the groundwork for international expansion with its successful launch in Portugal and expects to expand into more of Europe in 2021.

“The uncertainties of 2020 have provoked the younger, mobile generation to look for even more control and real-time visibility of their financial situation,” said Cyril Chiche, co-founder and CEO at Lydia. “This investment will not only enable us to respond to our customers’ needs faster and move into new markets but also benefit from Amit’s experience building Venmo and the Accel team’s broader experience from journeys with some of the world’s most successful B2C companies. I believe Lydia now has exactly what it takes to become Europe’s leading financial super-app.”