DTC’s Daily Digest brings you the latest news on the world’s fastest growing direct-to-consumer brands. In today’s edition: Monzo valued at over £2bn; streaming service Tubi now reaches 20 million monthly active users; and The Honest Company expands into Europe.

Monzo valued at over £2bn

Digital bank Monzo is now valued at over £2bn, having completed a Series F round of funding totalling £133m, led by venture fund Y Combinator. Other investors involved in the fundraising round included Latitude, General Catalyst, Stripe, Passion Capital, Thrive and Accel. Monzo, used by 2 million customers, is now the second-most valuable UK fintech startup, having overtaken rival firm Revolut.

Having launched in the US earlier this month, as well as debuting premium account features in its home market of the UK, the latest funding round represents the latest effort to support the lender’s growth. While the London-based startup scores highly on customer satisfaction reviews it has yet to turn a profit, having made a loss of £33.1m last year. However this appears to be of little immediate concern to Monzo founder and chief executive Tom Blomfield, who has previously stated: “Getting to profitability is not a goal we are prioritising over delivering customers real value. If that takes ten years, we are committed to it.”

Streaming service Tubi now reaches 20 million monthly active users

Streaming service Tubi has surpassed 20 million monthly active users, who now devour over 94 million hours of video content per month on the ad-supported platform, representing over 400% year-on-year growth. The platform is currently only available in North America, having been withdrawn in Europe following the launch of GDPR. While specific revenue figures were not announced in the statement, the service previously saw a 180% increase in ad revenue in 2018.

Commenting on the latest rise in users, Farhad Massoudi, CEO of Tubi, said: “Tubi has made remarkable strides in the first half of the year, further demonstrating the vitality of AVOD in an environment fatigued by the amount of subscription video options. Our recent deals this year with NBCUniversal, Lionsgate, Warner Bros., and others resonated very well with our customers, and we’re excited to provide even more premium content this year.”

The Honest Company expands into Europe

The Honest Company, founded in 2011 by actress Jessica Alba, has marked its first venture outside of the US, with a European distribution deal with German retailer Douglas. The deal will bring products from the Honest Beauty label to Germany, France, Spain, Italy, and the Netherlands, as well as a planned debut in Australia. To celebrate the launch of the line in Europe a series of events were held in Milan, Bologna, and Rome last week.

Honest Beauty products will now be available to purchase from 100 Douglas stores, as well as its e-commerce platform. The expansion was funded by a USD$200m (£157m) investment last year by private equity firm L Catterton. The financial history of Honest is somewhat of a rollercoaster, having previously reached unicorn status, then falling below the USD$1bn (£0.78bn) valuation. In 2016 the firm was in buyout talks with FMCG giant Unilever, however these fell through.