“Global dollar bank” Augustus has raised $180 million at a $1 billion valuation, according to a release.
The Series B funding round was led by Tiger Global. Other investors include Hummingbird, QED, and the founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel.
Augustus’ management team includes Greg Quarles, a former bank CEO and senior regulator at the OCC; Benjamin Alexander, a former Chief Compliance Officer at Column and an executive at JPMorgan and HSBC; and others.
August recently received conditional approval to operate as a bank in the US by the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, thus heightening interest in the Fintech.
Augustus defines its mission as “dollarizing the world” by providing financial institutions and Fintechs with direct access to dollar accounts. Target markets include Latin America, SE Asa, and MENA.
Quarles, President of Augustus, said you don’t get innovation by patching legacy institutions; you create something new.
“Augustus is: modern, proprietary technology fused with the full capabilities of a federally chartered bank into a single integrated platform. In my entire career, I have not seen anything like it.”
QED Managing Partner Nigel Morris explains that correspondent banking is the last part of the bank stack that has yet to be challenged by Fintechs.
The advent of the Trump administration, which has embraced Fintech innovation, has helped to propel financial services startups and new bank charters. Expanding the dominance of the dollar is a key policy goal of the executive.
Founded in 2022, Augustus has raised $210 million to date.