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Pioneering mobile-first bank for SMEs receives high-profile seed funding

New mobile-first bank, Tide, has announced it has attracted $2m (approx. £1.5m) in seed funding from some high-profile figures in London’s tech sector.

The London startup, which will allow small businesses to set up a current account in as little as three minutes, has attracted investment from CityMapper and Kano-backers LocalGlobe, investment firm Passion Capital along with a host of high-profile entrepreneurs.

Zoopla founder Alex Chesterman, LoveFilm co-founder William Reeve and Songkick co-founder Ian Hogarth, amongst a line up of other big entrepreneurial figures, have contributed to Tide’s seed funding round in a major show of faith in its plans to revolutionise small business banking.

Passion Capital partner and major FinTech figure Eileen Burbidge will also join the startup as its Chairman.

Currently in Alpha, the Tide app claims to the world’s first mobile-focused banking service targeted specifically at small businesses, and offers rapid account set up through its passport identification system and includes no setup, monthly or annual fees.

The business was founded in early 2015 by Chief Executive Officer George Bevis, who has claimed that traditional high street banks ‘don’t care enough’ about small businesses, and that a desire to make things more efficient and streamlined for time-pressed SMEs lies at the heart of the startup’s plans.

He added: “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.”

The firm’s technology-centered and mobile-first vision has obviously found support amongst the capital’s entrepreneurial scene with some major backers raising the banking apps profile significantly.

Currently in Alpha, the app will now be rolled out for its official launch in the Autumn, with features such as credit, payments and foreign exchange all planned before the end of the year.

Passion Capital partner and new Tide Chairman Eileen Burbidge believes the mobile banking app is the future of small business banking and that it addresses ‘serious pain points’ that many small businesses and entrepreneurs face when starting up.

She commented: “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.”

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