SME banking service Tide has raised $14 million in one of the largest Series A investment rounds closed by a FinTech company this year.
Mobile-first Tide seeks to eliminate the administration which blights the professional lives of business owners.
The round was led by specialist聽FinTech investor Anthemis, alongside Creandum, the Scandinavian fund that has backed global leaders including Spotify and iZettle.
鈥淥ur investors believe there is a real opportunity to support and champion small and medium-sized companies in the wake of Brexit,鈥� said George Bevis, Tide founder and CEO.
鈥淏ritain鈥檚 smaller firms have been let down by traditional banks, which often charge vulnerable companies eye-watering fees and keep them waiting weeks to open a business account.
鈥淏y providing our members an instant, transparent business credit facility, which for some was difficult to obtain on the high-street, we鈥檙e also making it easier for small and medium-sized companies to get the finance they need to grow.鈥�
Tide鈥檚 chair Eileen Burbidge said: 鈥淭ide is solving a problem which is a pain point for far too many businesses in Britain.
鈥淎ccess to financial services on demand has become a basic expectation of businesses, which until now has been unrealised. With Tide, that has changed.鈥�
The new money will be used to expand Tide鈥檚 workforce at its central London headquarters and develop more features to help the UK鈥檚 small and medium-sized businesses manage their finances quickly and efficiently.
Existing聽investors Passion Capital and LocalGlobe have also participated in the round, which follows the $2m seed investment last year.
The fundraising coincides with the announcement of a partnership with online lender iwoca, which will offer Tide鈥檚 members loans of up to 拢100,000 from later this summer.
iwoca鈥檚 risk engine makes instant lending decisions based on complex data sets. This allows it to assess the millions of small businesses currently neglected by the banks, offering them fast and flexible access to finance.
Speed is paramount for Tide: Users can set up a fully-functioning business current account within five minutes using their passport or driving license.
Alongside banking and payment facilities, Tide provides invoicing and bookkeeping services which aim to ease the administrative burdens faced by thousands of small companies.
New features under development include multi-user access to accounts and service availability in multiple currencies.