Augustus raises $180 million to build a US-chartered dollar clearing bank

Augustus, the fintech previously known as Ivy, says it has raised $180 million in Series B funding at a $1 billion valuation to build a federally chartered bank for US dollar clearing. Tiger Global led the round, which prices in a still-unfinished regulatory process: Augustus has conditional approval from the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, but not final permission to operate as a national bank.

The company is targeting international fintechs and banks that want direct access to dollar accounts and payment rails without relying on traditional correspondent banks. Revenue and headcount were not disclosed. Total funding now stands at $210 million since the company was founded in 2022, according to Augustus.

Conditional approval, not a bank yet

Augustus was founded in Germany as Ivy by Ferdinand Dabitz, Joshua Becker, Simon Wimmer and Peter Lieck. Dabitz, a 25-year-old German Thiel Fellow, is CEO. The company says he is on track to become the youngest CEO of a federally chartered US bank in more than 140 years if the OCC grants final approval, which Augustus expects in the third quarter of 2026.

The OCC granted conditional approval for a national bank charter in May 2026, according to the company. Augustus says fewer than 10 US national bank charters have been approved since 2010, making the regulatory asset central to the pitch. Until full approval is granted, the valuation rests partly on a regulatory outcome the company does not yet control.

Augustus describes its product as an API-first “Global Dollar Bank” offering dollar accounts, named virtual accounts and payments across ACH, SWIFT, SEPA and stablecoins. The company says those services run on Marble, its proprietary AI-powered core banking system, and are designed to settle transactions around the clock. As with many fintech infrastructure pitches, the AI label is less specific than the charter: the unusual part is the attempt to own a national bank rather than plug into one.

Fintech operators joined the round

Hummingbird and QED Investors participated in the Series B, alongside personal investments from the founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle and Deel. The list is notable because those companies scaled on top of banking partners and payment intermediaries rather than owning the core regulated bank layer themselves.

QED managing partner Nigel Morris, who co-founded Capital One, said correspondent banking remains a part of the bank stack that fintech has not yet challenged in the same way as cards, lending or front-end banking. He said Augustus is trying to address that by combining technology with a bank charter.

Augustus also named Greg Quarles as president. Quarles previously served as CEO of Green Dot Bank, United Texas Bank and H&R Block Bank, and spent 18 years at the OCC as a National Bank Examiner and Assistant Deputy Comptroller. His appointment gives Augustus an experienced regulatory operator alongside a young founder, a pairing that matters when the company’s main milestone is still an OCC decision.

The infrastructure bet

The company says its target customers are financial institutions in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa that need US dollar clearing. Augustus says Kraken, the crypto exchange, is already processing transactions through its system.

The nearest comparison in fintech infrastructure is Column, the bank built by Plaid co-founder William Hockey after acquiring a California community bank in 2021. Augustus is taking a different route by pursuing a new national charter from scratch. The Series B gives it capital and a high-profile investor base, but the core test is still ahead: final charter approval, followed by proof that international financial institutions will move dollar flows to a newly built bank.

This story draws on original reporting from TechFundingNews.