New funding raises N26’s valuation to $3.5B

N26, the German challenger bank that recently opened its doors in the U.S., has received a $170 million extension of its Series D funding to $470 million. This gives the company a valuation of $3.5 billion, making it the largest German fintech startup and one of the 10 most highly valued fintech startups worldwide.

The extra funding will fuel N26’s U.S. business as it prepares for a full nationwide release later this summer. Two U.S.-based investors — Insight Venture Partners and Peter Thiel’s Valar Ventures — participated in the most recent round of funding. In fact, all the investors that contributed to the January Series D round participated in the extension, including Allianz X, Earlybird Venture Capital and Greyhound Capital. The company has raised more than $670 million.

The U.S. unit is planning to use the funds in part to double its headcount. Currently N26 has 50 employees stateside, mostly in New York.

N26 went live in the U.S. last week. It offers a basic banking app and checking account backed by Axos Bank (formerly called Bank of Internet). It offers a feature called Spaces that lets users create virtual subaccounts to set aside money for a certain purpose, like a trip to Thailand.

But N26 executives say the biggest advantage their app has over other digital banking offerings in the U.S. is the ability to conduct transactions in real time.