Augustus raises $180m at $1bn valuation pursuing full US national bank charter

Augustus, the startup positioning itself as a Global Dollar Bank, has closed a $180 million Series B at a $1 billion valuation, with Tiger Global leading and backers including Hummingbird, QED, and founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle, and Deel. The round represents a dramatic scaling from the $20 million Series A that Valar Ventures led in 2023.

The more consequential development is regulatory rather than financial. In May, the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC) granted Augustus preliminary conditional approval for a full-service national bank charter, a category that permits deposit-taking, lending, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) coverage, and access to a Federal Reserve master account. Fewer than ten such charters have been granted since 2010, and the distinction separates Augustus from the cluster of digital asset firms that have secured the narrower national trust charter over the past year. A Fed master account would allow Augustus to clear US dollars directly rather than relying on correspondent banking relationships.

Augustus was founded in 2022 under the name Ivy and first built a European business centred on crypto on- and off-ramps, operating payments through Ivy Pay Oy, an authorised payment institution regulated in Finland. That European subsidiary is already live with euro clearing and currently serves the exchange Kraken, giving Augustus an operational regulated footprint while the US charter process continues.