Business-focused digital bank Tide has raised £72 million in Series C investment.
Tide is now valued at around £470m after four years of operation, having raised $200m total funding.
The round was led by funds advised by Apax Digital, the growth equity team of Apax Partners. Anthemis, Augmentum, Jigsaw, Local Globe / Latitude, SBI, and SpeedInvest, existing investors, also participated in the round.
Tide has experienced rapid and sustained growth since launching in 2017, with 2020 seeing the business more than double its user base in the UK. With over 350,000 members, over 400,000 business accounts and a proposition ranging from business banking to payments and accounting software, Tide serves around 6% of UK businesses.
Earlier this year, Tide announced that it was expanding into India, with a full launch of the platform planned for 2022.
The new funding puts Tide in a position to continue to develop its business financial platform, grow its market share and expand globally. Tide, in partnership with ClearBank, has also been awarded a total of nearly $120m in grants from the RBS Alternative Remedies Package.
Oliver Prill, Tide CEO, said: “Partnering with Apax Digital validates Tide’s potential to continue our growth trajectory and gain traction in global markets.
“Tide’s growth story to date has been hugely exciting, creating a diverse platform that serves small business owners, as well as generating significant market share. As we embark on taking Tide international, we couldn’t have a better set of investors to support us.
“We look forward to working with Apax Digital to realise our ambition of becoming a leading global business financial platform.”
Mark Beith, Partner at Apax Digital and Niccolò Ferragamo, Principal at Apax Digital said: “Small businesses are a key pillar of the economy. Yet, for years, they have been underserved by both financial services and software providers.
“Tide’s cutting-edge platform is empowering SMEs by providing frictionless, easy-to-use software for their financial needs. We are thrilled to partner with Oliver and the Tide team in their mission to simplify the lives of millions of small businesses globally.”