UK Fintech Bud Raises $20M to Connect Banks with Fintechs

Bud, originally launched in 2016 as a consumer-facing app, raised $20 million in a Series A funding round announced in early February 2019. The company had pivoted to become a BaaS-like connectivity platform enabling banks to share apps and data with fintechs under open banking regulations such as PSD2. The round attracted a notable roster of strategic banking investors including HSBC, Goldman Sachs, and ANZ, alongside Investec's INVC fund (which had led Bud's earlier seed round), InnoCells (Banco Sabadell's venture arm), Lord Fink, and 9Yards Capital.

The investment reflects growing bank interest in partnering with fintechs through open banking infrastructure rather than building proprietary solutions. Bud's platform positions it as a middleware layer between traditional financial institutions and the fintech ecosystem. The funding was expected to accelerate Bud's growth as European banks prepared for the September 2019 PSD2 compliance deadline.