Wonga
FintechUKClosed 2018
Total Raised
$150M
Peak Valuation
$1B
Employees
500
Year Collapsed
2018
Business model
Short-term, high-interest payday lending via app and website.
In brief
A payday lender once valued near £1 billion, charging annual interest rates that reached over 5,000% before UK regulators capped payday loan costs in 2015. A wave of customer compensation claims for past mis-selling, combined with the tighter lending rules, made the business unsu…
See the What Happened tab for the full account.
Key facts
- Founded
- 2006
- Closed
- 2018
- Headquarters
- London, UK
- Industry
- Fintech
- Employees
- 500
- Revenue
- $309M
- Founders
- Errol Damelin, Jonty Hurwitz
Related failures
LendUp
2012–2022Fintech · USA
Legal / regulatory$115MPowa Technologies
2007–2016Fintech · UK
Ran out of funding$180MFrontend
2021–2024Fintech · UK
Ran out of funding$20MTally
2015–2024Fintech · USA
Ran out of funding$172MVolt Bank
2017–2022Fintech · Australia
Ran out of funding$154MDash
2018–2023Fintech · Nigeria
Ran out of funding$86M
Often compared with: Klarna, Affirm.