I first downloaded Revolut back in 2018. For foreign exchange, it was a no-brainer: zero fees, instant rates and none of the 3-5% daylight robbery banks called “currency conversion”.

By 2020 though, I binned it. They wanted a letter from my accountant to prove income, and frankly, I couldn’t be bothered.

Revolut soldiered on (unshaken by losing me), and by 2024 they were worth $45B. One year and a $2B raise later, that shot up to $75B. Europe’s most valuable private fintech, with tens of millions of customers and billions in revenue.

The reality check: despite four years of profit and a customer base bigger than most high-street banks, Revolut still doesn’t have a full UK banking licence. 

Deposit caps. 

Lending limits. 

Endless waiting.

Rachel Reeves even tried to nudge things along, but Andrew Bailey batted her away in the name of “regulatory independence”.

And here’s where I surprise even myself: for once, I don’t entirely disagree with the regulators. Usually I’d be the first to call them slow and bureaucratic. But in this case, the delays are at least partly about protecting the public - making sure Revolut is bulletproof before it gets the keys to people’s deposits. 

Still, the contrast is stark: while regulators shuffle papers, Revolut has been raising billions and running circles around the rulebook. That’s where the story is - and where the lessons lie for anyone raising capital today.

On the ledger today:

In other words: everything screams “bank” except the people actually handing out licences.

Back in 2015, Revolut was still a scrappy startup. 433 people backed them on Crowdcube, writing cheques that averaged just over £2k. Nine years on, each stake is worth about £1.25M a piece - a 58,000% return.

That’s not a typo. 58,000%.

For once, the crowd beat the VCs. Teachers, engineers, shop owners - ordinary backers - walked away with a borderline ridiculous upside. More importantly, they gave Revolut something money can’t buy: loyalty. That base of believers stuck through delays, PR flare-ups and regulatory gridlock.

When I posted about this on LinkedIn, someone pointed out that crowdfunding is only as strong as your due diligence.

True. But I’d argue the model itself acts as a filter. If you can get 400 strangers to hand you money without guarantees, protections or even a half-decent exit plan, you’re either a cult leader or a very good founder. Revolut managed the latter.

Another commenter said most investors in 2015 didn’t even know what “fintech” was. Which makes Revolut’s early backers even more telling: they weren’t chasing hype, they were betting on nerve. That belief built the ballast for everything that followed.

And once the crowd proved the model, the whales piled in. US investor Greenoaks led a $1B round. Mubadala grabbed a $100M stake. Coatue, D1 and Tiger Global drove the earlier $45B round. It turned Revolut’s cap table into a billionaire’s bingo card - proof that once you’ve sold the story to the many, the few with deep pockets can’t resist.

I keep telling my clients at FundOnion the same thing: your first investors can be more than a source of capital. Done right, they’re your marketers, your testers, your word-of-mouth engine. Revolut’s crowdfunding wasn’t just money in the bank. It was the community that carried them to £75B.

So how did a prepaid card turn into a £75B powerhouse?

Three things: timing, execution and nerve.

Now to the UK licence saga. Three years on a “restricted” licence. Deposit caps at £50k. Lending limits that make them look like a payday lender.

For most companies, that would be fatal. For Revolut, it’s a windfall. Investors see it as regulatory arbitrage: buy in now, wait for the inevitable approval and your stake jumps overnight without the company lifting a finger.

And if a £100M fine shows up later? That’s just admin.

Which is why their eyes are drifting west. London dithers, New York offers deeper liquidity, fatter valuations and faster approvals. If the UK can’t get its act together, Wall Street will happily hand them a banking licence with a bow on top.

It’s perverse, but it’s the truth: the very bureaucracy designed to slow Revolut down has become a reason to back them harder. Regulators worship process; markets worship speed. Revolut has turned the gap between the two into its most profitable asset.

Revolut isn’t polishing its $75B trophy and calling it a day. They’re already laying track at high speed.

That’s why Revolut isn’t playing the same game as Monzo or Starling. Those guys still look like neat little digital banks. Revolut’s trying to look like the entire financial ecosystem in one app - and mostly pulling it off.

For customers, that means a constant firehose of new features. Whether you’re investing, borrowing or just paying for a pint, Revolut wants to be the app glued to your thumb.

So, what can founders actually take from this story?

A) Use believers, not just backers. Revolut’s first 433 crowdfunders became an army of evangelists. Try getting that kind of loyalty from a VC. Build your crowd early; it pays off later.

B) Move fast. In startup time, six months of faffing around is six years. Every week you stall is a week your competitor hoovers up users, investors and headlines. Don’t get stuck collecting business cards while they’re collecting term sheets.

C) Pick your ground. Don’t cling to a jurisdiction out of pride. Capital flows to wherever it gets treated best. If New York offers faster approvals and fatter multiples, take the hint: book a flight.

D) Turn compliance into a moat. Regulation feels like the world’s least fun obstacle course, but once you clear it, you’ve built a fortress wall. Skip it, and you’re the next Monzo paying for “oversights”.

E) Control the narrative. Don’t let regulators define you as “non-compliant”. Frame it as economic value left on the table. Revolut did, and half of Westminster is now on their side.

F) Match your investors to your stage. VCs love chaos and big swings. Institutions want structure and exit paths. Get the mix wrong, and you’ll either burn through discipline too early or drown in it too late.

None of this is theory. Revolut proved it - now the question is, will you?

Before I close with the biggest takeaway, here’s a curveball I didn’t expect to recommend.

I put off reading Sapiens for years because, frankly, everyone who recommended it was acting like they’d found the meaning of life in Waterstones.

Turns out I was wrong. It’s brilliant.

It walks through the history of Homo sapiens, Neanderthals and the rest, and forces you to zoom out. You realise you’re the product of millions of years of evolution - which makes the things you’re stressing about today, the email you fluffed or the deal you lost, look microscopic.

Worth a read if you’re sweating the small stuff.

Early stage? You want VCs and angels who thrive on chaos, who’ll back a half-built product and big swings without demanding polished board decks.

Scaling up? That same chaos-loving capital will turn into a headache. At this point you need institutional money: pension funds, sovereign wealth, big corporates. They don’t move fast, but they bring credibility, patience and the kind of governance that reassures later investors.

Get the timing wrong and it hurts twice: bring in institutions too early and you’re buried in reporting when you should be experimenting; keep the cowboys too long and you’ll look un-investable when serious money shows up.

I ditched Revolut over an accountant’s letter, and funnily enough, they survived. In fact, they turned into a £75B giant while regulators argued over definitions.

If you’re weighing whether to raise at home or abroad, or whether crowdfunding could give you more than just cash, that’s exactly the kind of conversation I’m having with founders every week at FundOnion. 

Drop me a note if you want to talk it through.

Till next time,

James