On Thursday, when Neobank Chime raised $864 million in IPOs, one of the most anticipated IPOs took place, priced stocks above the $27-$24-$26 range. This gave us a market capitalization of around $9.8 billion.
According to Yahoo Finance, some point out that this is far below the last private valuation of $25 billion, according to Pitchbook estimates, but the stock opened at $42, bringing it to $14.5 in a massive deal. It closed at $37 that day with a market capitalization of around $12 billion. It’s still often shy that it’s at the height of last year, but it was all equally healthy responses from retail investors.
The hunger response is primarily due to some impressive financials. Chime reported revenue of $1.3 billion in 2023 and $1.7 billion in 2024. The losses shrunk from $203 million in 2023 to $25 million in 2024. While $13 million in revenue was revenue in the first quarter of 2025 with $519 million, the company’s warning may not stand growth.
Still, the founder’s journey is not always on the right. That’s especially true for chimes. The company had distributing struggles like the 2022 layoffs and the 2021 fight against regulators.
But their biggest struggle was when it almost died before it raised Series B.
“We founded the company in 2012. The first, really, five or six years, was very difficult in terms of convincing investors to invest in ideas and business. That was much more difficult than I expected.”
“In early 2016, specifically we were trying to raise an extension of Series A, but we pitched 100 investors.
Chime was almost out of money at that point, he said. He and co-founder and CEO Chris Britt still believed in the mission. Online bank experiences aimed at the working class were free for users and earned money on exchange fees. For example, Chime does not charge overdraft fees and offers credit building tools such as cash-saving “credit cards.”
But the VC has certainly achieved slight growth and passed by that time after seeing the heavily regulated industry it was trying to disrupt.
King remembers reading a high-tech press article about how the founders of Robin Hood pitched 50-75 investors. He scoffed at himself, “I’ll get 50 nos in a week,” and now smiled about it.
So, what happened to preserving the chimes? Single seed investor yes: Lauren Corodney, a partner in aspect ventures, is today the co-founder of Akolieu Capital. Kolodny was leading a $9 million extension for Chime.
“She really put a bet on Chris and me and believed in our passion, enthusiasm and attitude,” he said. “It was the only term seat we had at the time.” She was a very large supporter, and Chime invited her to the podium and rang the opening bell for the Nasdaq.
The check brought Chime’s total pay raise to $21 million at the time. Britt and King will continue to raise about $2.65 billion as private companies, Pitchbook estimates. A few years later, you’ll be chased by famous VCs like Iconiq.
Meanwhile, Korodney saved the company by buying at 26 cents per share, according to personal round stock disclosures. So, Thursday’s billions ratings landed, but she clearly wins. (Kolodny did not respond immediately to requests for comment.)
However, King’s Cake Icing came during the roadshow of a company that was pitching institutional investors to buy IPO shares.
While being asked for an ID by the guards in the white rounded building that looked like a set of the HBO show “Billions”, the guard saw Britt’s chime card in his wallet.
“And the guard says, ‘Oh, I can see that chime card.’ And he winks at us,” King said. The founder asked if he was a client of Chime, and the security guard replied, “Check and saving, baby!” And they gave the founder a high five.
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