In this IPO review, we'll look at Chime—the fintech giant that is taking on the banking industry with its digital banking products & services. In particular, we'll provide an overview of what Chime does, when Chime is expected to IPO, Chime financials, employee layoffs at Chime, and more.
The research for this article was partially done by our GPT-3 enabled IPO research assistant, which was fine-tuned on publicly available information on Chime. This information was then manually verified and edited by humans.
Chime Overview
Chime is a fintech (financial technology) company based in San Francisco, United States. Chime was founded with the goal of making financial peace of mind a reality for millions of Americans.
Chime offers a number of digital banking services that are helpful, easy, and free, and its model does not rely on overdraft or monthly fees. As the company states:
Chime helps members avoid bank fees, save money automatically, and lead healthier financial lives.
Chime provides digital banking services through its mobile app, but doesn't operate as a traditional bank.
Instead of providing traditional banking services directly to consumers, the company works with regional banks to provide "basic banking services" and uses a "transaction-based, processing-based business model that is highly predictable, highly recurring, and highly profitable"
One of their competitive advantages is that Chime has no account opening, monthly, or overdraft fees, and does not require an opening deposit or minimum balance for its checking accounts
Competitors include Ally, Varo, Wise, and Revolut, all of which offer similar digital banking services to consumers.
In terms of patents and IP, Chime currently has 1 registered patent in the 'Computing; Calculating' category and 6 registered trademarks, with the most popular class being 'Insurance; financial affairs'.
Chime IPO: What You Need to Know
As IG highlights, Chime's IPO was initially scheduled to debut in the first half of 2022, although unfavorable market conditions across the entire tech industry, and even more so in fintech, the company delayed their initial public offering.
As of December 2022, the company is likely still considering an IPO, direct listing, or special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) for its public offering, although the exact date of this is still unknown.
As such, at the time of writing it's still unclear what the Chime IPO share price will be, but the company's valuation and strong growth potential make it a potentially attractive opportunity in 2023, depending on what the IPO valuation will be.
Overall, the outlook for the Chime IPO is positive despite the massive fall in other fintech unicorn valuations, as Chime does has a strong track record for growth and an ever-increasing customer base.
Chime Financials: Overview
Chime's latest post-money valuation was $25 billion, and the company has raised a total of $2.3B in funding, with the latest Series G round bringing in an additional $750 million.
With fintech valuations falling drastically in 2022, however, it's possible the company's valuation has also dropped since then.
In total, Chime has raised 9 venture capital rounds, with the most recent round occuring on on Aug 13, 2021.
Chime has also acquired 2 companies, with the most recent acquisition being Charlie Finance Co. on Aug 16, 2021.
Chime is currently funded by a total of 31 venture capital investors, with General Atlantic and Tiger Global Management being the most recent investors.
Chime Employees & Leadership Team
Here are a few key points about Chime's employees and leadership team:
- Chime currently has 1600+ employees per LinkedIn
- The co-founder and CEO of is Chris Britt, who held previous senior-level roles at Green Dot Corporation and Visa
- Ryan King is another co-founder and CTO, who held previous roles at Comcast and Plaxo
Similar Companies to Chime
Similar companies to Chime include:
| Company | Services |
|---|---|
| Tide | current accounts, savings accounts, credit cards |
| Autobooks | banking and payments solutions for small businesses |
| Fondeadora | savings accounts, loans, investments |
| N26 | current accounts, savings accounts, credit cards |
| Monzo | current accounts, savings accounts, credit cards |
Chime in the News: Layoffs of 12%
As TechChrunch highlgihts, Chime recently announced its plan to layoff around 12% of its staff, or around 150+ employees.
The reason for these layoffs, just like many other tech companies, is due to market uncertainities and the need to prioritize profitability in 2023. The company didn't provide any additional details on severance or the impact of layoffs on profitability.
All we know as of now is Chime has put its plan to IPO on hold due to these uncertain economic times.
Summary: Chime IPO
Chime had originally planned to go public in the first half of 2022, but the IPO has since been delayed due to unfavorable market conditions.
The company is likely still considering a direct listing, traditional IPO, or SPAC for its public share sale sometime in 2023, but the exact date of Chime's IPO is unknown as of December 2022.
As of August 2021, Chime's valuataion was a massive $25 billion and the company has raised $2.3 billion in funding over 9 venture capital round, with the latest Series G round bringing in an additional $750 million.
A few of Chime's main competitors include other digital banks like Ally, Varo, Wise, and Revolut.
In more recent news, like many other tech giants, Chime announced its plans to lay off around 12% of its workforce, or around 150 employees, due to market uncertainties and a renewed focus on profitability in 2023.
