Tide raises £44.1 million

Tide , the digital business banking platform, has raised £44.1 million in a first-round of Series B funding led by SoftBank and Augmentum. To date, Tide has raised ~$84 million.

Founded in 2015, the UK-based startup offers its members business banking without monthly, weekly or annual, or card usage fees. The only costs are for transfers from non-Tide accounts, ATM use and cash deposits at the Post Office. Tide allows business owners to open accounts “in minutes” and it integrates with different accounting systems, enabling users to create and pay invoices.

In August 2019, Tide surpassed 100,000 members and increased its market share to 1.75%, targeting at least 8% by 2023.

Securing this substantial investment from successful fintech investors like The SBI Group and Augmentum, underlines how far the business has come in a short time. We believe this is one of the largest Series B rounds ever secured by a UK fintech company.  As we outlined earlier this year, securing more funding means we can accelerate our strategy to capture a significant share of the UK SME banking market. We want to challenge the oligopoly that has dominated and failed SMEs for too long. With a clear plan for growth in the UK backed by significant investment, we are ready for an exciting future, which includes looking at taking Tide to an international market.” – Oliver Prill, CEO of Tide.

“Tide’s rapid growth, alongside the quality of its products and services used by its growing army of members, is hugely exciting. For more than a decade, we have been establishing an internet-based financial ecosystem to drive growth through the aggressive use of new technology. Tide fits perfectly into that ecosystem and shares our approach to business which is to be customer-centric, and innovative to create value.” – Yoshitaka Kitao, President and CEO of The SBI Group.

“Since we first invested in Tide last year, we have been impressed by how the team have delivered significant growth. Tide fits our investment criteria. It is disrupting its market by challenging incumbents, bringing efficiencies to the end customer, and is led by a talented and driven management team. We look forward to supporting Tide in its next stage of growth.” – Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech.