Augustus, a startup building a federally chartered clearing bank for stablecoins and programmable money, raised $180 million in a Series B round on Tuesday at a $1 billion valuation. The round was led by Tiger Global with participation from Hummingbird, QED, and founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel, alongside crypto figures including Circle co-founder Sean Neville and former Coinbase CTO Balaji Srinivasan. The financing supports Augustus' mission to provide dollar access to international fintechs and banks through infrastructure that settles across traditional rails and blockchain networks, following the company's conditional approval in May for a U.S. national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency.
Tiger Global Leads $180 Million Series B Funding Round
The Series B round valued Augustus at $1 billion and brought total capital raised to $210 million to date. Tiger Global led the investment, with backing from Hummingbird and QED. The investor roster includes founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel, as well as Circle co-founder Sean Neville, former Coinbase Chief Technology Officer Balaji Srinivasan, and Rain's Farooq Malik. The company stated the capital will fund its mission to provide high-quality dollar access to international fintechs and banks.
Augustus Platform Supports Swift, ACH, SEPA, and Stablecoin Settlement
Augustus is building API-first infrastructure for correspondent banking that lets banks and fintechs transact across both traditional rails and blockchain networks. The platform supports operating and FBO accounts and settles via Swift, ACH, SEPA, and stablecoins. The system runs on a proprietary core banking platform called Marble, which the firm said enables faster settlement and 24/7 availability by deploying AI across the back office. Rather than issuing its own stablecoin, Augustus positions itself as infrastructure that wires stablecoin rails directly into a chartered bank.
OCC Grants Conditional National Bank Charter in May
Augustus received conditional approval in May for a U.S. national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. The company stated this made it the eighth bank to win conditional approval since 2010. The startup already counts crypto exchange Kraken among its customers. The charter approval supports the company's positioning of stablecoin infrastructure as a plumbing upgrade for mainstream institutions.
Expansion Targets Latin America, Southeast Asia, Middle East, and Africa
Augustus plans to use the capital to expand across Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, regions where the company said dollar access remains limited. CEO and co-founder Ferdinand Dabitz stated the company started with the thesis that "the Dollar is the greatest product in the world but its distribution is fundamentally broken." The company framed the effort partly as a geopolitical response, noting China's digital yuan and Russia's proposed BRICS Pay as challenges to Western currency dominance.
FAQ
What did Augustus announce on Tuesday?
Augustus announced it raised $180 million in a Series B funding round at a $1 billion valuation on Tuesday. The round was led by Tiger Global with participation from Hummingbird, QED, and founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel, bringing total capital raised to $210 million to date.
How does the Augustus platform settle transactions?
The Augustus platform supports settlement via Swift, ACH, SEPA, and stablecoins through an API-first infrastructure. The system runs on a proprietary core banking platform called Marble, which the firm said enables faster settlement and 24/7 availability by deploying AI across the back office.
Which regions will Augustus target for expansion?
Augustus plans to expand across Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, regions where the company stated dollar access remains limited. The company received conditional approval in May for a U.S. national bank charter from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to support this expansion.
