Curve raises $3 million to aggregate all your bank cards into one

Fledgling fintech startup Curve has announced a new $3 million post-seed raise, which it hopes will kick off a bigger Series A round later this year.

Founded out of London in 2015, Curve is vying for a piece of the lucrative fintech pie by offering a physical card and mobile app that aggregate all your bank cards into a single entity. Built on the MasterCard network, the Curve card costs £35 ($50) up front, and once you’ve installed the iPhone app, you can manually add an unlimited number of bank cards to the app, which then syncs with the Curve card.

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The Curve card can be used just like any normal bank card, and you can change which of your bank cards are associated with the Curve card at any given time. It’s useful for people who have multiple cards for different scenarios — for example, a bank card for personal day-to-day spending, a credit card for hotel stays, and another one for work trips. With Curve, you only ever need to carry one card around with you.

At a glance, Curve looks identical to the myriad smart credit card devices that have gone to market, such as Stratos and Coin, but Curve isn’t the same thing. It’s not a Bluetooth device that connects to your phone — it’s a real bank card that slips in your wallet and can be used anywhere MasterCard is accepted.

Curve had raised around $2 million in seed funding prior to now, but with a full public launch coming up in early 2017 — after an extended beta period that has so far been limited to businesses and freelancers — the company is now building up its coffers to aid its wider rollout and the development of new features.

New investors include Connect Ventures, Paul Townsend, and the Samos Brothers, who join existing seed investors such as Taavet Hinrikus (CEO TransferWise), Ricky Knox (CEO Azimo), Ed Wray (cofounder of Betfair), Seedcamp, and Speedinvest.

“Despite Brexit, London fintech continues to explode with numerous exciting prospects, but we’ve not seen any other startups taking Curve’s approach of becoming your wallet,” said Bill Earner, partner at Connect Ventures. “We love the fact that this isn’t just one more account or app the user needs to think about — it’s the only app they need. [Curve is] innovating within the fintech space, while enabling users to enjoy the future today thanks to their unique Curve card.”

With $3 million more in the pot, a spokesperson says that Curve hopes to add around $8 million in December ahead of the full launch.