Tide, an SME challenger bank, has secured £8m of fresh financing to propel its next stage of growth.
Tide’s existing investors Anthemis, Creandum and Passion Capital have been joined by Augmentum in providing convertible notes to the company as it gears up for rapid expansion and develops more features to ease the administrative burden faced by small to medium-size enterprises.
The new funds come in conjunction with the start of Tide’s new chief executive officer, Oliver Prill, who joined the company in July 2018 and has more than 20 years of experience in financial services, most recently as Chief Operating Officer at German online lender Kreditech.
Oliver Prill says: “It is a privilege to join the already successful and UK market-leading team at Tide in order to define and lead its next stage of growth and success. The big banks have never really focussed on small businesses. To them, small businesses are a low priority, which leads to poor service, products and processes. Anyone who has applied for a business account or loan knows what a disappointing experience this can be. I look forward to working with the team, existing investors and now Augmentum to achieve our ambitions and deliver the banking service that SMEs deserve.”
Eileen Burbidge MBE, Chair of Tide, adds: “On behalf of all the board and team members at Tide, it is a pleasure to welcome Oliver and new investor Augmentum to the incredibly strong team and proposition that we have at Tide. After commendable vision and founding by George Bevis, we’re all incredibly enthusiastic about what the next chapters will bring. Continued investor appetite and our growing member community are both strong endorsements of Tide’s unique and valuable proposition.”
“We believe that successful SME propositions require segment focus and solutions that go beyond just banking. Tide has understood this imperative and has all the potential to strengthen its early leadership position in SME challenger banking in the UK and potentially beyond. We look forward to working with Oliver and the Tide team as they enter the exciting next phase of their journey,” says Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum.
