Tide secures £44.1m in its “first round” of Series B funding

The business banking service says a second round is expected to close by the end of the year.

Tide will look to expand internationally after closing the first of two Series B funding rounds, raising £44.1m to expand the business.

The round was led by Japan-based The SBI Group and Augmentum Fintech in London, and comes after Tide secured a £60m grant along with partner ClearBank from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package in February.

“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,” said Tide CEO Oliver Prill this morning.

“We believe this is one of the largest Series B rounds ever secured by a UK fintech company.”

Prill also added that “we are ready for an exciting future, which includes looking at taking Tide to an international market.”

The funding was hinted at last month when Augmentum Fintech reported a boost in its Tide holdings based on a new valuation, Tide is reportedly now more than £200m.

“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,” said Augmentum Fintech CEO Tim Levene.

In recent weeks Tide has expanded into business lending with the launch of Tide Capital, subscription services with the arrival of Tide Plus, and web-based signups.