Wallets/tide
Tide
0 standards supported
Overview
Tide is UK's leading SME business-banking platform [1, 2, gb-cro]. 2025 baseline: ~800,000 UK SMB members + 14% UK SMB market share.
September 2025 — Tide $120M funding round + $1.5B unicorn valuation [3]:
- Lead investor: TPG (TPG Rise Funds impact-investing arm).
- Existing investor participation: Apax Digital Funds.
- Round structure: Primary + secondary investment.
- Valuation: $1.5 billion = UK SME-fintech unicorn.
May 2025 — Tide £100M Fasanara Capital debt facility [4]:
- Purpose: Strengthen short-term cash-flow management solutions for UK SME members.
- Outcome: Support £300M+ working-capital loans distribution across UK.
Funding Options acquisition [5]: Tide acquired Funding Options (UK SME finance marketplace) — gives Tide's SME customers access to 120+ lender partners for credit options.
History
2017 — Tide founded [2] in London by George Bevis (and team) as UK SME business-banking challenger.
2018-2024 — Mass UK SMB adoption [1]: From early-stage to 800K+ members.
India expansion: Tide India launched (RBI India SME-banking).
May 2025 — Fasanara Capital £100M debt facility [4].
September 2025 — TPG-led $120M funding at $1.5B unicorn valuation [3].
2025 — Funding Options acquisition [5] for 120+ lender SME-finance-marketplace.
Ownership & operator
Operating entity: Tide Platform Limited (TPG-backed unicorn).
Founder: George Bevis.
Current CEO: Oliver Prill.
Major investors: TPG (TPG Rise Funds; lead Sep 2025) + Apax Digital Funds + Augmentum Fintech + LocalGlobe + SBI Group + Fasanara Capital (debt) + others.
Banking-license partner: ClearBank (UK clearing-bank infrastructure).
Regulators: FCA (UK Financial Conduct Authority) + per-country (RBI India for Tide India).
Technical integration
| Layer | Description |
|---|---|
| Channels | Tide mobile app (iOS + Android) + Tide web + Tide card |
| Identifiers | Email + phone + card number + business account |
| UK rail | Faster Payments UK + BACS + CHAPS via ClearBank partnership |
| License | E-Money Institution + Bank Agent (via ClearBank partnership) |
| Sub-products | Tide Business Account + Tide Card + Tide Cashback + Tide Capital (SME credit + working-capital loans £300M+ distributed) + Tide Accounting + Tide Invoicing + Funding Options marketplace (acquired) |
| Customer focus | UK SMBs (small-medium businesses) — 14% UK SMB market share |
| India expansion | Tide India RBI-regulated SME banking |
Users & growth
2025 baseline [3]:
- UK SMB members: ~800,000
- UK SMB market share: 14%
- September 2025: $120M funding round at $1.5B unicorn valuation (TPG lead + Apax Digital Funds)
- May 2025: £100M Fasanara Capital debt facility → £300M+ working-capital loans distribution
- 2025 Funding Options acquisition for 120+ lender SME-finance-marketplace
- India expansion: Tide India
Use cases
UK SMB business-banking (Tide Business Account + Tide Card + Tide Cashback); Tide Capital SME credit + working-capital loans (£300M+ distribution via May 2025 Fasanara £100M facility); Tide Accounting + Invoicing; Funding Options marketplace (120+ lender partners post-acquisition); UK Faster Payments + BACS + CHAPS via ClearBank partnership; Tide India RBI-regulated SME banking expansion.
Implementations & partners
Operator: Tide Platform Limited.
Major investors: TPG (TPG Rise Funds lead Sep 2025) + Apax Digital Funds + Augmentum Fintech + LocalGlobe + SBI Group + Fasanara Capital (debt).
Banking-license partner: ClearBank (UK clearing-bank infrastructure).
Acquisitions: Funding Options (UK SME finance marketplace with 120+ lender partners).
Major UK SMB-banking competitors:
- Starling Bank (UK SMB digital bank)
- Revolut Business (Revolut SMB arm)
- Monzo Business (Monzo SMB arm)
- Anna Money (UK SMB freelancer + small business)
- Mettle (NatWest SMB digital banking arm)
- HSBC Business + Barclays Business + Lloyds Business (Big-4 UK SMB banking incumbents)
Major comparable global SMB-fintech:
- [[pleo]] (European SMB expense platform; €164M Q4 2025 ARR)
- [[mamo]] (UAE SME analogous)
- [[hala]] (Saudi SME comprehensive analogous)
- Brex + Ramp (US/global SMB analogous)
Regulators: FCA + RBI India.
Fun facts
- UK's leading SME business-banking platform — ~800K UK SMB members + 14% UK SMB market share.
- September 2025 TPG-led $120M funding at $1.5B unicorn valuation — UK SME-fintech unicorn.
- May 2025 £100M Fasanara Capital debt facility → £300M+ working-capital loans distribution.
- 2025 Funding Options acquisition for 120+ lender SME-finance-marketplace.
- 2017 founding by George Bevis in London.
- ClearBank partnership for UK Faster Payments + BACS + CHAPS clearing-bank infrastructure.
- India expansion (Tide India RBI-regulated SME banking).
- TPG Rise Funds impact-investing arm lead investor — distinctive ESG-impact positioning.
Comparison
| Feature | Tide | Starling Business (UK SMB digital-bank rival) | Revolut Business (Revolut SMB arm) | Mettle (NatWest SMB rival) | [[pleo]] (European SMB expense rival) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Operator | Tide Platform Limited (TPG + Apax + Augmentum + LocalGlobe + SBI Group backed; ClearBank-partnership) | Starling Bank | Revolut Group | Mettle (NatWest digital arm) | Pleo Technologies A/S |
| Type | UK leading SME business-banking platform + Tide Capital working-capital loans + Funding Options marketplace | UK SMB digital bank (own banking license) | Revolut SMB arm | NatWest SMB digital arm | European SMB expense + spend platform |
| Country | UK + India (Tide India) | UK | Global | UK | 13+ European countries |
| Users | 800K UK SMB members + 14% UK SMB market share | Major UK SMB | Major Revolut SMB | Major NatWest SMB | 40K+ businesses + €164M Q4 2025 ARR |
| Valuation | $1.5B (Sep 2025 TPG-led $120M unicorn) | Major UK | Revolut Group $45B+ | NatWest parent | Dec 2021 $200M Series C at $4.7B |
| Distinctive | TPG Rise Funds impact-investing lead Sep 2025; Funding Options acquisition; ClearBank partnership; India expansion | Starling own banking license + SMB digital bank | Revolut multi-currency SMB | NatWest-anchored | Smart company cards + automated expenses + accounts payable |
Status
Active, UK's leading SME business-banking platform + UK SME-fintech unicorn [1, 3]:
- Tide Platform Limited since 2017.
- 800K UK SMB members + 14% UK SMB market share.
- September 2025 TPG-led $120M funding at $1.5B unicorn valuation.
- May 2025 £100M Fasanara Capital debt + £300M+ working-capital loans distribution.
- 2025 Funding Options acquisition for 120+ lender SME-finance-marketplace.
- FCA + RBI India regulated via ClearBank partnership.
Sources
- 1 Tide + ClearBank SME banking — ClearBank
- 2 Tide — Crunchbase
- 3 TPG leads $120M funding Tide $1.5B Sep 2025 — Bloomberg
- 4 Tide £100M Fasanara May 2025 — Fintech Global
- 5 Tide acquires Funding Options — Fintech Futures
- gb-cro In-corpus:
reports/countries/GB-united-kingdom.md
Source
Biography extracted from tide.md. See matrix.md for standards-support matrix if present.