Leading global law firm Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer has advised Tide, one of the UK's leading fintechs, on its US$120 million Series C follow-on funding round led by TPG and The Apax Digital Partners.
Tide is a rapidly scaling all-in-one financial platform for small business customers that operates in the UK, India and Germany with global ambitions, and has over 750,000 small business customers in the UK.
As part of the next stage its growth, the firm has advised Tide on its strategic Series C follow-on investment from TPG, a global alternative asset management firm, together with support from existing investor The Apax Digital Partners. Across the primary and secondary components, the Series C follow-on represents an aggregate US$120 million investment and cements Tide’s unicorn status with a valuation of US$1.5 billion.
The investment will accelerate Tide’s international expansion, support rapid product development, and advance its investment into agentic AI. It also underscores Tide’s position as one of Europe’s most successful late-stage fintech companies.
Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer fielded a cross-border multidisciplinary team led by Corporate partners Michael Jacobs and Dylan Doran Kennett - co-heads of the firm's EMEA Venture and Capital Growth practice across VC/Growth, Corporate, Financial Services, Financial Services Regulatory, Employment and Incentives - and included Corporate senior associates Tom Watkins, Financial Services partner Kelesi Blundell and Incentives partner Mark Ife, and Corporate associates Joshua Avis and Sabry Salama, together with German VC/Growth Corporate partner Gregor Klenk and Luxembourg Corporate partner Marc Tkatcheff.
Partners Michael Jacobs and Dylan Doran Kennett commented: "We are delighted to be able to support Tide on this marquee capital raise and be part of Tide's ambitions to be the fintech backbone provider for the SME market, which is the heart of the global economy. Delivering funding rounds of this complexity is a testament to our rapidly growing European and global VC and growth capital practice, which is able to deliver the full spectrum of VC and growth capital transactions."
Steven Robinson, Head of Legal (Corporate & Finance) at Tide, commented that: "Michael, Dylan and the HSF Kramer team provided stellar support for us on this complex funding round. We operated as a genuine single team and HSF Kramer advised us as a trusted partner. Their deep expertise in the VC/Growth capital market helped to underpin this successful transaction and it has been great to work with the team."
TPG's investment was made through The Rise Funds, the multi-sector strategy of TPG’s global impact investing platform, which partners with high-growth businesses to drive scalable, positive change alongside strong financial returns. The fund has invested in more than 85 impact-focused companies, alongside mission-driven founders and entrepreneurs.