Augustus disclosed that the company had completed $180 million in financing, with an updated valuation of $1 billion. The start-up company is building a clearing bank for stable currency payments, with the aim of connecting traditional payment systems to a network of block chains to provide round-the-clock, programmable financial settlement capacity.
Tiger Global received the investment financing
According to the company, the current round of financing was led by Tiger Global, with the participation of Hummingbird, QED and the founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle and Deel. The new funds will be used primarily for the expansion of the dollar-paid infrastructure.
Augustus does not intend to issue his own stable currency. Companies wish to provide bottom-up banking and clearing services, allowing financial institutions to transfer funds between traditional payment tracks and chain networks.
OCC conditional approval
The company disclosed that Augustus had provided euro clearing services in Finland through regulated entities and that billions of euros were currently being processed annually. Its clients include the International Finance Science and Technology Corporation, international banks and encryption companies, Kraken, one of the publicly mentioned clients.
In May this year, Augustus received conditional approval of the United States Monetary Supervisory Authority (OCC) for the licence of the National Bank. The company indicated that, upon final approval, direct access to the dollar settlement would be increased.
- Current round: $180 million
- Post-financing valuation: $1 billion
- License: OCC Conditional Approval
Aim at the old system of cross-border liquidation
The company targeted the traditional agency system. Cross-border payments are still highly dependent on multi-layered intermediary accounts, with time differentials in the transfer of funds between different markets and significant idle liquidity.
According to Augustus, a stable currency would allow the agency to mobilize global funds more quickly, without the need to keep the balance in the agent account for a long period of time. Companies estimate that trillions of dollars are still deposited in such systems.
bet AI and programmable payments
According to the company, its banking platform was not based on traditional banking software but was developed from zero and was therefore better suited to support programmable payments and 7x24-hour settlements. Management is of the view that this structure is also better suited to address the new risks arising from AI ' s involvement in financial processes.
Augustus also sees the currency of stability as an important tool for AI to drive finance. In the company ' s judgement, if AI agents are to interact directly with the banking system in the future, a programmable currency is required as a payment medium.
Next, Augustus plans to use this financing to expand client coverage, focusing on markets in Latin America, South-East Asia, the Middle East and Africa. There is a general lack of stable dollar banking access in these areas.
Additional information:Augustus ' s current public position is not to stabilize the issuer of the currency, but to provide financial institutions with a banking infrastructure linking the French currency to the chain of settlement.