Tide, a UK-based mobile-first SME banking service, has received £8 million in fresh funding and welcomed former Kreditech chief operating officer Oliver Prill as CEO. Founded by former RBS/Worldpay head of innovation George Bevis, Tide launched in January 2017 on the back of a £2 million seed round.The business - which has fintech czar and Passion Capital partner Eileen Burbidge as chairman - enables users to set up a fully functioning business account in a matter of minutes using their passport or driving licence.Alongside banking and payment facilities, Tide provides invoicing and bookkeeping services which aim to ease the administrative burdens faced by small companies.The new financing, led by Augmentum with a £3 million punt, comes a year after the business secured $14 million in Series A investment in a round led by Anthemis. It's been a busy month in the fintech sector for Augmentum, which raised raised £94 million in an IPO in March with the goal of investing in early-stage financial technology companies in the UK and wider Europe.The new funding in Tide coincides with a leading role in a $7 million series A round in B2B payments startup Previse, and a £2 million investment in DueDil, the private company information platform, as part of a funding round of up to £8 million.Founded in 2016, Previse enables buyers to have all their suppliers paid instantly, as soon as the buyer receives an invoice. It uses machine learning technology to root out the invoices which are unlikely to be paid, allowing a funder to pay the rest immediately. Previse, Tide and DueDil now join Augmentum's expanding portfolio, which also includes Seedrs, Zopa, Interactive Investor, BullionVault and SRL Global.Tim Levene, CEO of Augmentum Fintech, says: “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.”
UK -based venture capital firm Augmentum Fintech added three fintech investments to its portfolio following its up to £8m ( $121m ) initial public offering in March . Augmentum has invested $121m in mobile banking service Tide , participated in a $7m series A round in B2B payments start-up Previse , and invested £2m in private company information platform Tide , in a round which raised £94m . Tim Levene 's portfolio also includes BullionVault , Interactive Investor and Seedrs .