Glad tidings: Fintech business bank secures £8m fundraise

Business banking fintech firm Tide has secured £8m in convertible notes as it targets rapid expansion.

Private equity firm Augmentum Fintech PLC, which raised £94m through a listing on the London Stock Exchange, joined the round as a new investor alongside existing investors Anthemis, Creandum and Passion Capital.

Augmentum, which is backed by the Rothschild Investment Trust, invests in fintech start-ups and scale-ups across the UK and Europe. It is currently trading at a 1.5 per cent premium to NAV.

Augmentum has announced three new investments this morning. In addition to the £3m invested in Tide, it has also made £2m investments in Previse, a global instant supplier payment company, and DueDil, a private company information platform. The Previse investment was part of a £5.3m Series A round, while the DueDil investment came as part of a round worth up to £8m.

The Tide fundraise comes just a month after the bank’s new chief executive officer, Oliver Prill, took over the reins from George Bevis, who stepped down in March. Prill was most recently chief operating officer at German online lender Kreditech.

Prill said in a statement that small businesses are ‘a low priority’ to big banks and that he looks forward to working with Tide’s investors to deliver an improved banking experience for SMEs.

Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech, commented: “Since our IPO we have built an exciting pipeline of fintech investment opportunities and are delighted to announce the completion of these three investments, each of which fit perfectly with our approach to investment. These companies deliver propositions that are disrupting their markets, challenging incumbents and bringing huge efficiencies to the end customer. At Augmentum we look for opportunities where we can add value to a company beyond a simple financial contribution. In particular, we seek out talented, driven management teams and help them to achieve their potential.”