Lawyers from the Bristol HQ of TLT have advised leading pan-European fintech Monese on a $35m (£31.6m) investment from HSBC aimed at spurring further expansion for the pioneering business.
London and Tallinn-based Monese offers smart money services to millions of consumers across Europe. 
The HSBC funding is part of a broader, strategic partnership that will focus on the continued growth of Monese’s industry-leading, cloud-based platform-as-a-service business, which it launched last year.
The investment takes the total raised by the firm to $208m since its launch in 2015 as Britain’s first mobile-only banking service by entrepreneur Norris Koppel after his first-hand experience of the pain of trying to open a bank account in another country.
The HSBC deal involved cross-sector and specialist fintech expertise from TLT, with commercial partnership advice led by tech intellectual property (IP) and data partner David Gardner, pictured, who leads the firm’s fintech sector practice.
Meanwhile, TLT corporate legal director Dan Whitewood led on the equity investment advice. Both David and Dan worked closely with Monese’s in-house legal and senior executive team.
Norris Koppel said: “Securing the support of a tier one global bank demonstrates the strength of our platform and the continued appetite from investors in the platform. We look forward to taking this partnership forward.
“We’re extremely grateful for the help and support provided by the whole team at TLT. Their specialist and detailed knowledge of the industry and expert advice was instrumental in helping us get this deal over the line.”
David Gardner added: “It has been a pleasure advising Monese on this important investment and partnership that supports its strategic growth plans.
“We are proud to support an organisation working to remove financial barriers.
“The project showcases the expertise of TLT’s market-leading fintech practice, providing seamless advice across the equity investment, technology partnership and financial services regulatory elements of the deal.”
Fintech is a major growth area for TLT, which employs round 1,200 people across six offices, including Bristol.
