HomeFundingMobile-first banking service Tide launches alpha version and secures $2M in funding...

Mobile-first banking service Tide launches alpha version and secures $2M in funding from LocalGlobe and Passion Capital

Tide, the free mobile-first small business banking service that establishes a business account in 3 minutes or less and charges no set-up, monthly or annual fees, has today launched its alpha version and revealed it has raised a $2 million seed round with investment from LocalGlobe, Passion Capital and some high profile business angels. Tide was founded in 2015 and is based in London.

Tide founder and CEO George Bevis, who previously worked in senior roles at both Barclaycard and Zopa, stated: “High street banks don’t care enough about small businesses. They’re painful to deal with. We need a simpler, more efficient and helpful way to manage money. So, we started Tide: a banking service designed especially for small businesses. One that actually respects the scarcity of business owners’ time and money, so they can get on with more important things. It’s a problem we think that cutting-edge technology is best placed to solve. Packed with useful but simple tools, we’ve created the best business banking service in the world.”

Alongside the near-instant business account set-up time, issuing standard business current account features (such as sort code/account number, direct debits and corporate Mastercards) all managed from Tide’s app or website, Tide also has a range of additional valuable features for UK small business owners. These include:

  • No monthly, annual or setup fees, just 20p per bank payment
  • Money-saving tools including credit, payments (accept cards and direct debits) and foreign exchange which will be available later in 2016
  • Fully extensible APIs to build apps on top of, or easily integrate with, Tide
  • Easier accounting and expenses including auto-categorisation of transactions, native integrations to leading accounting software like Xero and FreeAgent, and the ability to issue and send invoices instantly from the app and attach photos of receipts from recent transactions for expenses
  • Banking assistance whenever needed, including instant help available from staff via instant messaging and an online customer community
  • Safety and security including bank payments always authorised on a known mobile, photo ID and automated Companies House verification required to set up an account, and spend controls for different team members. All deposits made with Tide are ring-fenced at Barclays under an FCA e-money licence

Passion Capital partner and Tide Chairman Eileen Burbidge said, “Tide is the future of small business banking services by addressing serious pain points for small business owners and entrepreneurs. With Tide, small business owners can get an intuitive mobile-first experience that is almost instant to set up and easily integrates with best in class cloud-based tools and services seamlessly. I’m looking forward to playing an active role in Tide’s growth and ushering in a new age of customer-first online business banking.”

Check out the video below to learn more about how Tide works. If you wish to take part in Tide’s private alpha launch, visit www.tide.co and apply now!

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Thomas Ohr
Thomas Ohr
Thomas Ohr is the "Editor in Chief" of EU-Startups.com and started the blog in October 2010. He is excited about Europe's future, passionate about new business ideas and lives in Barcelona (Spain).
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