[DigitalToday reporter Chi-gyu Hwang] Major venture capital firm Tiger Global led a $180 million Series B round by banking startup Augustus.

Hummingbird, QED and founders of Nubank, Ramp, Circle and Deel also participated. Augustus was valued at $1 billion. Augustus plans to use the funds to expand services for fintech firms and banks in Latin America, Southeast Asia, the Middle East and Africa. Z

According to a recent report by The Block, Augustus is a U.S. fintech company and is building a federally chartered bank called Global Dollar Bank that will allow overseas fintech firms and banks to directly access dollar accounts and payment networks.

The service handles stablecoins along with support for traditional payment rails such as SWIFT, ACH and SEPA. Augustus' core banking platform, Marble, provides 24-hour settlement and AI-based functions. The Block reported that it is emphasizing a model that processes virtual account openings and transactions directly through a single API, without passing through multiple banks as in the past.

Ferdinand Davitz (페르디난트 다비츠), Augustus' CEO and co-founder, said, "We started Augustus with a simple thesis: the dollar is the world's best product, but the way it is distributed is fundamentally broken." He said, "This fundraising has enabled us to carry out our mission of providing high-quality access to dollars for overseas fintech firms and banks. Now is the time to dollarize the world."