Atom Bank raises 50 million pounds from funds including Woodford

[July 22, 2019]  (Reuters) - Under fire fund manager Neil Woodford is among investors who have put an additional 50 million pounds ($62.42 million) into digital lender Atom Bank, the company confirmed https://www.atombank.
co.uk/newsroom/atom-bank-raises-50m-in-latest-fundraising-round on Monday.

Woodford, one of Britain's best-known money managers, has left thousands of investors without access to their savings after suspending his flagship 3.7 billion pound equity income fund last month following a surge of exit requests which sparked regulatory scrutiny.

Atom said on Monday, Woodford's listed fund, Woodford Patient Capital Trust <WPCT.L>, participated in the latest funding round which also included BBVA, Toscafund and funds advised by Perscitus LLP. It did not break down the funds' individual contributions.

The Sunday Times reported over the weekend that Woodford had invested 10 million pounds in Atom.

Atom said it would use a portion of the funds from the latest round for technology investments.

The digital lender, launched in 2016, offers banking and loan services to small and medium-sized enterprises through a mobile phone application.

It said total lending, for homeowners and small businesses, jumped 76% to 2.4 billion pounds last year, with deposits also growing to 1.8 billion pounds from 1.4 billion pounds.

(Reporting by Pushkala Aripaka in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)

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