Bud secures $20m from a group of global banks to build the industry’s first connected finance platform

 Bud, the tech company that helps people to automate their personal finances by combining data from banks and financial service providers has closed more than $20m from major global banks and well-known industry figures. The startup will use the funding to deliver on its mission to give people more control over their lives, simplifying people’s finances by connecting their different financial products and service providers with their bank.

 

Investors include:

●      HSBC

●      Goldman Sachs

●      ANZ

●      Investec’s INVC fund (an existing investor alongside InnoCells)

●      InnoCells (the corporate venture arm of Banco Sabadell),

●      Lord Fink, the former chief executive of hedge fund Man Group

●      9Yards Capital (the VC firm to which George Osborne is an advisor)

 

Part of the funding is subject to FCA approval.

 

Banks use Bud’s platform to create a new generation of apps and services, allowing customers to manage all of their financial products within their main banking app. The model helps banks to cement strong customer relationships, financial service providers to find new audiences for their products, and people to manage their finances better. The capital will support the expansion of the Bud team, as the company moves to double its headcount creating the largest team dedicated to Open Banking in the world and help extend the company’s coverage into new markets over the next 12 months.

 

“The investment proves that banks are looking seriously at how open banking can evolve beyond what regulation requires into something that genuinely puts customers first. It’s just the beginning of a larger change for the finance industry but it’s a significant step forward in helping people gain more control over their lives. The commitment of these investors indicates that they appreciate this and that they view a collaborative approach as the best way of delivering on it.” says Ed Maslaveckas. Co-founder and CEO of Bud.

 

Bud’s platform has been built to put the consumer at the heart of the various financial services available to them, eliminating the barriers put up by disjointed technology and creating a streamlined and personal experience across different providers. The team is already working with 85 different companies - from thriving FinTech businesses such as Wealthify and PensionBee to established companies like Hiscox and AJ Bell.

 

The power and flexibility of the platform to connect data from disparate financial sources with banks has been recently demonstrated through collaboration with HM Treasury on the Rent Recognition Challenge. During the challenge Bud demonstrated how its platform could be used to share rent payment history with credit reference agencies, helping people to build a credit file from their rent payments.

 

The company is headquartered in London, with a team of 62 staff at a new expanded office space, and ambitions to double this headcount within the next year.

 

Maslaveckas adds, “We are on the cusp of a major cultural shift. People are beginning to understand the value that their personal data holds, they’re taking more control and ownership of it, and they’re using it to achieve more. Empowered like this, they are starting to demand more from the institutions that serve them, and in the process, to open the doors to a financial system that gives them control over their lives.”