Swedish venture capital firm Kinnevik has written off its investment in Monese, further exacerbating the financial challenges faced by the mobile money transfer startup.
Kinnevik stated that this write-off is a result of more cautious expectations regarding its investees and a decline in relative valuations compared to public market counterparts. The firm mentioned, “We have sought to make large write-downs or write-offs in our portfolio’s long tail of companies where our conviction has diminished. In this quarter, that encompasses a full write-off of Monese.”
Kinnevik led a $60 million Series B funding round for Monese in 2018 and holds a 20% stake in the company. The firm commented, “While there is still significant value in the company, the nature of our participation in its future is uncertain. This underpins our decision to write off our investment in full.”
Monese, based in London and Tallinn, focuses on providing banking services to expats and immigrants who often face difficulties in obtaining traditional bank accounts. In January, the company reported a loss of £30.5 million in its 2022 financial accounts and warned that it may struggle to continue as a going concern unless it secures additional funding.
The company last raised equity funding of £42.3 million during its final Series C round in January 2022, which was supplemented by a $35 million strategic investment from HSBC in September 2022.