Revolut CEO says IPO is two years out, eyes $150–200B valuation
What’s the deal? Revolut CEO Nik StoronskyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → confirmed the company plans to go public — but not before 2028. In an interview with David Rubenstein in April 2026, Storonsky said an IPO is “two years away,” ending speculation about an imminent listing or indefinite private status. Investors briefed by the company say Revolut is internally targeting a $150–200B valuation at IPO, according to the FT — roughly 2–2.7× its $75B valuation from the November 2025 secondary sale.
Before any listing, Revolut will pursue further secondary share sales. A fresh round is expected in H2 2026 at a valuation exceeding $100B, giving early backers like Balderton Capital and Index Ventures partial liquidity. The company typically runs these transactions every one to two years.
Why now? Three catalysts are converging. First, Revolut secured its full UK banking licence in March 2026 after a four-year wait — a prerequisite for credibility with public market investors. Second, the company applied for a US banking charter in March 2026, with Storonsky claiming a four-month “official target” (regulators typically take a year). Third, Revolut’s 2025 financials are formidable: £1.7B pre-tax profit (+57% YoY), £4.5B revenue, 68.3M customers.
Storonsky chose the IMF Spring Meetings in Washington in April 2026 to make these comments — a deliberate signal to US regulators and investors that Revolut is serious about its American expansion. Former VisaDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → executive Cetin DuransoyDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → has been appointed to lead the US operation.
What could go wrong? The $150–200B target implies Revolut needs to roughly double or triple its valuation in two years — aggressive even by fintech standards. Public markets have punished other neobanks that couldn’t sustain growth rates post-IPO (Nubank traded below its listing price for over a year).
The US banking charter is far from guaranteed. Regulatory scrutiny of fintech-to-bank conversions remains intense, and Revolut’s compliance track record (the delayed UK licence was partly due to accounting concerns) could slow the process. Operating across 40+ markets under 30+ licences creates compounding regulatory complexity.
There’s also a governance question: Storonsky’s incentive package would give him ~40% of the company at a $200B valuation — a level of founder concentration that public market investors and proxy advisors may scrutinise.
The signal: Storonsky is doing something unusual: publicly committing to an IPO timeline while simultaneously managing expectations downward. The “two years” framing creates a window to hit the $100B+ secondary sale, secure the US charter, and build a public-market-ready narrative — all without the pressure of an imminent listing.
The deeper play is about trust infrastructure. “Public companies are trusted more compared to private companies,” Storonsky said. For a company that wants to hold deposits, issue credit cards, and access Fed payment rails in the US, that trust isn’t optional — it’s a regulatory and commercial prerequisite. The IPO isn’t just an exit event. It’s the next licence.
Sources:
The Financial Times
Bloomberg
TechCrunch
Trending Topics
The Next Web
The Irish Times
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J.V.