Brex vs Starling Bank: Revenue, Profit and Business Model
A full-year revenue figure is unavailable here for Brex. Starling Bank had ~$1.2B of annual revenue in FY2026.
Latest financial snapshot
Brex
- Latest annual revenue
- Unavailable here
- Net income
- Unavailable here
- Net margin
- —
- Revenue growth
- —
Starling Bank
- Latest annual revenue
- ~$1.2B (FY2026)
- Net income
- Unavailable here
- Net margin
- —
- Revenue growth
- +25.1% a year, FY2023–FY2026
Financial summary
Brex
Brex never published audited results as a private company. Sacra estimates annualized revenue slowed to $312 million in 2022, growing 30%, while the company was reportedly burning about $22 million a month. After the January 2024 restructuring, growth picked up: Brex said in February 2025 that enterprise revenue rose 80% with net revenue retention near 140%, and Sacra estimates total annualized revenue reached $700 million in August 2025, up 50%. Brex turned operating-cash-flow positive for the first time in October 2025, according to Sacra. Before the sale it raised about $2.3 billion in equity. Capital One paid $5.15 billion, roughly 58% below the $12.3 billion valuation of 2021.
Starling Bank
Starling's profits come mainly from net interest income: it funds mortgages and SME loans with low-cost deposits. That made it a big winner from higher UK interest rates, with pre-tax profit peaking at ~$397M (£301.1M) in FY24. As rates eased, profit settled at ~$295M (£223.4M) in FY25 and ~$287M (£217.1M) in FY26, and reported revenue slipped from ~$1.24B (£940.0M) to ~$1.17B (£887.4M). Deposits still grew to ~$16.8B (£12.7B), and Engine by Starling's revenue rose 25% in FY26, adding a fee-based line that depends less on interest rates. Starling Bank is a highly disruptive, digital-only challenger bank in the UK, maintaining a massive private market valuation estimated over $3 billion.
Revenue and profit by year
Brex
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2025 run-rate | $700M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2024 run-rate | $466.7M | — | — | — | Source |
| FY2022 run-rate | $312M | — | — | — | Source |
Starling Bank
| Year | Revenue | Net income | Margin | Growth | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| FY2026 | ~$1.2B | — | — | +24.3% | Source |
| FY2025 | ~$942.5M | — | — | +4.7% | Source |
| FY2024 | ~$900.5M | — | — | +50.7% | Source |
| FY2023 | ~$597.7M | — | — | — | Source |
Where the revenue comes from
Brex
- Card interchange
Majority (undisclosed)
Fees paid by merchants' banks when customers use Brex corporate cards. Sacra estimates gross take of about 2.7% of card volume before partner costs.
- Software subscriptions
Growing share (undisclosed)
Brex Premium at $12 per user per month, plus enterprise contracts for spend management, approvals, travel and accounting automation.
- Cash management and payments
Undisclosed
Fees from partner banks and funds that hold customer cash in Brex Business Accounts, and transaction revenue from bill pay.
Starling Bank
- Business banking
Not formally reported
Accounts and lending for British small and medium-sized businesses. This is the main source of profit.
- Retail banking
Not formally reported
Free personal current accounts, which bring in customers and low-cost deposits that fund mortgages and SME loans.
- Engine by Starling
About $92.4 million committed ARR
Starling's cloud banking software licensed to other banks. GBP 70 million.
Business model and strategy
Brex
How it makes money
Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Sacra estimates Brex collects about 2.7% of card volume as gross revenue and keeps roughly 65% gross margin after paying its issuing and network partners.
Growth strategy
Brex's growth since 2024 has come from enterprise customers, international companies and partners. It serves more than 300 public companies, holds an EU payment institution licence obtained in August 2025, and distributes its cards through other software: Brex Embedded partners include Navan, Zip, Coupa and Sabre, and Brex is the default commercial card for Fifth Third Bank's commercial clients, according to Sacra.
Competitive advantage
Brex's main technical advantage is its own card-issuing stack. It integrated directly with Mastercard rather than relying on a third-party processor, which lets it issue local corporate cards, settle in local currency and reimburse employees in more than 50 countries. That matters to multinational customers such as Anthropic, Arm and Robinhood.
Starling Bank
How it makes money
Starling earns money in three ways. Retail banking offers free personal current accounts, which bring in customers and deposits. Business banking serves British small and medium-sized businesses and is its main source of profit.
Growth strategy
Starling is growing through software sales and lending rather than by opening consumer banks in new countries, which is expensive and heavily regulated. It sells its Engine platform to existing banks, including in Asia and the Middle East, and it is expanding mortgage and commercial lending in the UK, funded by its deposit base of about $16.8 billion (GBP 12.7 billion).
Competitive advantage
Starling's advantage is its own core banking software. It built its banking infrastructure in the cloud from the start, while older banks run on decades-old mainframe systems that cost far more to maintain. That keeps Starling's cost per account low. Its founder, Anne Boden, came from traditional banking, which helped the company work through UK banking regulation and obtain a full licence.
Questions about Brex vs Starling Bank
Which company has higher revenue — Brex Inc. or Starling Bank?
Starling Bank had ~$1.2B (FY2026). A comparable annual revenue figure for Brex Inc. was unavailable here.
How does revenue per employee compare for Brex Inc. and Starling Bank?
Starling Bank generates $335k / employee in revenue per employee. A comparable figure for Brex Inc. requires matching employee and revenue data from the same reporting period.
How do Brex Inc. and Starling Bank make money?
Brex Inc. and Starling Bank generate revenue in fundamentally different ways. Brex Inc.: Brex makes most of its money from interchange, the fee a merchant's bank pays each time a Brex card is used. Starling Bank: Starling earns money in three ways.
Figures come from each company's filings and the sources linked beside them. Amounts reported in another currency are shown in US dollars at an approximate rate and marked with ~. Back to the Brex vs Starling Bank overview