British bank Revolut reached a valuation of US$75 billion in the second half of 2025 after a secondary share offering. The operation, which positioned it as one of the world's largest digital banks, was also a milestone for the English venture capital fund Balderton Capital, which realized gains of US$2 billion from the sale of its stake in the company.

The result stemmed from an initial investment of £1 million in the fintech company , which was part of the company's fifth fund – representing a return of more than 25 times the initial US$305 million raised, according to sources who spoke to the Financial Times (FT) . This is without considering that the fund retained at least 10% of its stake in Revolut.

“The best companies keep unlocking opportunities, and we knew Nikolay Storonsky was an entrepreneur who would do exactly that with Revolut,” Daniel Waterhouse, a partner at Balderton who served on Revolut’s board for several years, told the FT . “He had the ability to take the business in many different directions.”

The investment in Revolut was by far the best in Balderton's 25-year history — a period in which the asset manager raised US$5.7 billion with its funds.

At the same time, these gains were bolstered by other assets of the fund, ranging from the energy group Fuse, which reached a valuation of US$5 billion in December, to the sale of the fintech GoCardless for US$1.1 billion.

Furthermore, the British company Wayve, which specializes in autonomous driving, is negotiating a funding round of up to US$2 billion, and the German company Quantum Systems, a manufacturer of security drones, has tripled its valuation to €3 billion since Balderton's initial investment in May of last year.

Balderton's investment in Revolut is not recent. The London-based asset manager led the fintech's first funding round in 2015, contributing £1 million of a total £1.5 million invested, which brought the valuation of the then-startup to around £6.7 million.

“Europe had a relative advantage in fintech, despite having already lost ground to the United States in other sectors,” Tim Bunting, a former Goldman Sachs partner who joined Balderton before the Revolut investment, told the Financial Times .

Subsequently, Balderton also led Revolut's Series A funding round in 2016, when the company raised £6.75 million from other venture capital firms and a further £1 million via crowdfunding, in addition to participating in the $66 million Series B round the following year.

With these investments, the financial sector became the manager's biggest bet, accounting for almost half of the total invested in the fifth fund. "There was no doubt in our minds that the opportunity would be enormous for European fintechs," said Waterhouse.

Investing in Revolut helped Balderton, a company with only six partners, stay at the top of European venture capital, alongside giant firms like Index Ventures and Accel. But now the challenge is to face the international giants, who are closely watching the performance of European fintechs.

“The tech industry tends to fluctuate wildly,” Waterhouse said. “A lot of people get caught up in the hype and the drama. We’re very good at keeping things balanced.”