Revolut Ltd
Company History
Revolut History: Founding, Growth & Key Milestones
Founded 2015 in London, United Kingdom
When was Revolut founded?
Revolut was founded in 2015 in London, United Kingdom by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko, making it 11 years old.
- Founded
- 2015
- Founding place
- London, United Kingdom
- Founders
- Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko
- Headquarters today
- London, England, United Kingdom
- Milestones documented
- 12 (2015–2026)
- Current CEO
- Nikolay Storonsky
- Acquisitions
- 3
| Year | Event |
|---|---|
| 2015 | Revolut Founded at Level39 Canary Wharf |
| 2017 | Launches Revolut Business & Crypto Trading |
| 2018 | $250M Series C at $1.7B Valuation & European Banking License |
| 2019 | Visa and Mastercard Expansion Deals |
| 2020 | $500M Series D at $5.5B Valuation Led by TCV |
| 2021 | $800M Series E at $33.0B Valuation Led by SoftBank & Tiger Global |
| 2023 | Revolut posts ~$2.38B (£1.8B) revenue and ~$578M (£438M) pre-tax profit |
| 2024 | Secures UK Banking License Authorization from PRA |
| 2024 | $45.0B Valuation Secondary Sale Led by Coatue and Greenoaks |
| 2025 | $75B valuation |
| 2026 | Full UK banking licence |
| 2026 | $115B secondary share sale |
- Where was Revolut founded?
- Revolut was founded in London, United Kingdom in 2015.
- Who founded Revolut?
- Revolut was founded by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko.
- When did Revolut start?
- Revolut was founded in 2015.
- How old is Revolut?
- Revolut is 11 years old as of 2026.
Founding Story
Nikolay Storonsky, a former equity derivatives trader at Lehman Brothers and Credit Suisse, travelled often and disliked the foreign exchange markups and card fees his bank charged. In 2015 he and software engineer Vlad Yatsenko launched Revolut at the Level39 fintech hub in Canary Wharf, offering a prepaid multi-currency card that converted money at interbank rates.
Founders
Nikolay Storonsky
Nikolay (Nik) Storonsky co-founded Revolut in 2015 and has been its CEO since. He led the company from a prepaid travel card to a multinational bank with ~$5.94 billion (£4.5 billion) of 2025 revenue and remains its largest individual shareholder. He also founded the investment firm Quantum Light. Nikolay Storonsky was born in 1984 in Dolgoprudny. Nikolay Nikolayevich Storonsky was born on July 21, 1984. He also founded the venture capital firm QuantumLight.
Vlad Yatsenko
Vlad Yatsenko (born 1983) is a Ukrainian-British software engineer who co-founded Revolut with Nik Storonsky in 2015. Frustrated by the legacy software at traditional banks, he architected Revolut's modern, cloud-native banking infrastructure. As Chief Technology Officer, he has scaled the platform's engineering to support tens of millions of users globally while rapidly deploying new crypto and trading products. Education: Petro Mohyla Black Sea National University. Vladyslav Yatsenko was born in August 1983. He is a British software engineer of Ukrainian origin.
Key Milestones
Revolut Founded at Level39 Canary Wharf
Nik Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko founded Revolut in London, launching multi-currency cards with zero FX fees.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgLaunches Revolut Business & Crypto Trading
Debuted corporate business accounts and cryptocurrency exchange, igniting rapid user growth past 1M users.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$250M Series C at $1.7B Valuation & European Banking License
Achieved unicorn status led by DST Global and secured a European banking license from the Bank of Lithuania.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgVisa and Mastercard Expansion Deals
Revolut signed agreements with Visa and Mastercard in 2019 to support its expansion into new markets.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$500M Series D at $5.5B Valuation Led by TCV
Raised $500M during the pandemic, expanding global operations into the United States, Japan, and Australia.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$800M Series E at $33.0B Valuation Led by SoftBank & Tiger Global
Closed a large $800M financing round valuing Revolut at $33.0 billion, becoming the UK's most valuable tech firm.
Source: en.wikipedia.orgRevolut posts ~$2.38B (£1.8B) revenue and ~$578M (£438M) pre-tax profit
2023 results showed revenue nearly doubling.
Source: assets.revolut.comSecures UK Banking License Authorization from PRA
Achieved landmark approval for a UK banking license with restrictions from the Bank of England.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$45.0B Valuation Secondary Sale Led by Coatue and Greenoaks
Completed landmark secondary share sale valuing Revolut at $45.0 billion, solidifying Europe's top tech valuation.
Source: en.wikipedia.org$75B valuation
November 2025 share sale led by Coatue, Greenoaks, Dragoneer and Fidelity.
Source: revolut.comMajor Acquisitions
Nobly POS
2021Point-of-sale software for hospitality businesses, folded into Revolut Business.
Swifty
2025AI-powered travel agent startup.
Arvog Forex Private Limited
2022Indian international money transfer and currency exchange.
Keep researching Revolut
Revolut Company History FAQ
When and where was Revolut founded?
Revolut was founded on July 1, 2015, in London, United Kingdom, incubated at the Level39 technology accelerator in Canary Wharf, by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko.
What was Revolut's original initial product offering?
Revolut launched as a pre-paid multi-currency Mastercard and mobile application that allowed travelers to spend abroad and transfer money internationally at real interbank exchange rates without hidden bank fees.
When did Revolut introduce cryptocurrency and stock trading?
Revolut launched cryptocurrency trading (initially Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin) in December 2017, followed by commission-free US stock and fractional share trading in July 2019.
When did Revolut secure its European specialized banking licence?
In December 2018, the European Central Bank granted Revolut a specialized banking licence through the Bank of Lithuania, allowing it to establish Revolut Bank UAB and provide deposit protection up to €100,000 across EU member states.
What was Revolut's valuation progression across major funding rounds?
Revolut reached a $1.7 billion valuation in 2018 (Series C), $5.5 billion in 2020 (Series D), $33 billion in July 2021 (Series E led by SoftBank and Tiger Global), and reached a $45 billion valuation in an August 2024 secondary employee share sale.
When did Revolut receive approval for its UK banking licence?
In July 2024, after a three-year regulatory review, the UK Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA) granted Revolut its UK banking licence with restrictions ("mobilisation stage"), enabling it to build out banking infrastructure before launching full lending operations.
When did Revolut achieve its first full year of profitability?
Revolut reported its first full year of profitability for the financial year 2021, and subsequently reported record pre-tax profits of £438 million ($545 million) on £1.8 billion ($2.2 billion) in revenue for 2023.
How did Revolut respond to the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine?
Revolut simplified payment onboarding for Ukrainian refugees across the EU, waived cross-border remittance fees to Ukraine, and CEO Nikolay Storonsky publicly condemned the war while renouncing his Russian citizenship in late 2022.
How fast has Revolut grown its global user base?
Revolut grew from 1.5 million users in 2018 to 10 million in 2019, 25 million in 2022, 35 million in 2023, and crossed 45 million retail customers globally by mid-2024 across 38+ countries.
What products transformed Revolut into a financial "super-app"?
Between 2020 and 2024, Revolut integrated debit cards, business merchant acquiring, high-yield savings vaults, stock/crypto/commodities trading, travel accommodation booking (Stays), phone eSIM data packages, and credit cards into a single mobile application.
What leadership hires strengthened Revolut's regulatory standing in the UK?
To satisfy strict regulatory governance requirements, Revolut appointed financial veterans including Martin Gilbert (former Aberdeen Asset Management co-founder) as Chairman and Francesca Carlesi (former Barclays executive) as UK CEO.
What are Revolut's global expansion milestones beyond Europe?
Revolut launched services in Australia (2019), the United States (2020), Singapore (2019), Japan (2020), Brazil (2023), and New Zealand (2023), while securing operational approvals to expand into Mexico, India, and the Middle East.
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