Goldman Sachs-backed digital bank Starling expects to go public within two years

Goldman Sachs-backed digital bank Starling expects to go public within two years

LONDON — British digital bank Starling expects to go public in two years' time, CEO and founder Anne Boden said Tuesday. An initial public offering is "a year or two off," Boden told reporters. "It's at least one year away. But we're talking about one or two years away." Starling, which counts , Fidelity Investments and Qatar's sovereign wealth fund as investors, is one of the U.K.'s leading challenger banks. Along with other start-up competitors like Monzo and Revolut, Starling has attracted millions of users through only an app and a linked payment card — no physical branches. Boden said Starling's IPO was likely to take place in London, where the company is headquartered. "I very much hope we can do it in London," she said. "I think that would be the default option, unless we're persuaded otherwise." A stock market debut for Starling would add to a series of high-profile floats in the U.K.'s fledgling technology sector. Fellow fintech firm on the London Stock Exchange at an $11 billion valuation earlier this year. Food delivery giant had , with shares sinking as much as 30% on the first day of trading. Though Britain has produced successful tech companies like