Augustus raises $180 million Series B at $1 billion valuation for Global Dollar Bank

Fintech Augustus raised $180 million in Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation, The Next Web reported, citing a company announcement. Tiger Global led the round, with Hummingbird, QED, and founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel participating. Total capital raised is now $210 million, according to TNW and FinanceFeeds. The U.S. firm aims to build what it calls a Global Dollar Bank, giving banks and fintechs outside the United States more direct access to dollar accounts and payment rails instead of long correspondent-banking chains. Target markets include Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. FinanceFeeds listed additional investors including Balaji Srinivasan, Soma Capital, Road Capital Management, CMT Digital, Brevan Howard Digital, and Variant. Chief executive Ferdinand Dabitz, a 25-year-old German Thiel Fellow who began the company in 2022 as payments firm Ivy, said dollar distribution remains broken and that Augustus is building a real bank rather than sitting atop another institution. The company won conditional approval for a U.S. national bank charter in May, described as only the eighth such grant since 2010; final clearance is still pending, so it cannot yet operate as a chartered bank. Customers can move funds over Swift, ACH, SEPA, and stablecoins. Dabitz told CoinDesk the firm will not issue its own coin. Its Marble platform uses AI in back-office functions for around-the-clock settlement. Augustus already clears euros through a regulated Finnish entity and counts crypto exchange Kraken as a customer, TNW reported.