Chime's IPO was highly anticipated, successfully raising $864 million and giving it a market cap of around $9.8 billion. Despite its IPO success, the valuation was significantly lower than its previous $25 billion mark. The neobank showed great financial improvement; revenues increased from $1.3 billion in 2023 to an expected $1.7 billion in 2024, and it became profitable in early 2025. The company has faced challenges, including regulatory issues and investor skepticism, especially during its initial years; founder Ryan King recalls pitching 100 investors only to be rejected each time.
Still, no founder journey is always up and to the right, and that has been especially true for Chime. The company had its share of struggles like layoffs in 2022 and a fight with regulators in 2021 that forbid it from calling itself a ‘bank.’
We founded the company in 2012, and the first, really, five or six years was very difficult in terms of convincing investors to invest in the idea and the business. It was just way, way harder than I expected,” co-founder Ryan King and the company’s original CTO told TechCrunch.
Chime reported $1.3 billion in revenue in 2023 and $1.7 billion in 2024. Losses shrank from $203 million in 2023 to $25 million in 2024.
In the beginning of 2016, specifically, we were trying to raise an extension to our Series A and we pitched 100 investors, maybe more, and got 100 no’s.
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