Investec and Banco Sabadell are backing hot UK fintech startup Bud with £1.5m

Investec and Banco Sabadell, the owner of TSB, are backing a UK fintech startup which is creating platforms to help people manage their finances.

Bud has raised £1.5m from investors, led by the FTSE 250 asset manager and InnoCells, the Spanish Bank’s digital venture arm.

Also participating in the early stage round is Force Over Mass Capital, the fund set up by Theo Osborne the brother of former chancellor and now newspaper editor George Osborne.

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The cash comes fresh off the back of HSBC revealing the startup is helping it build a new app for its digital-only bank First Direct.

“We connect multiple products into one digital app, that allows customers to have new end to end experiences, automating previously complicated and time consuming tasks,” said chief executive and co-founder Ed Maslaveckas.

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The two-year-old startup is one of 20 banks to be chosen to participate early in Open Banking efforts under plans from the competition watchdog, which will see banks having to open up their data.

“We shared Bud’s vision of a seismic shift to traditional banking from the outset and are delighted to be an early partner as they catalyse and empower Open Banking in the months and years ahead,” said Investec’s co-head of emerging companies Devin Kohli.

The fresh cash will go on expanding the business including across Europe and further afield.