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Gen Zs and millennials make up over 85% of Tide’s MSME community — a powerful reminder that young India is steering the country’s entrepreneurial momentum
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Tier 2, 3, 4 and beyond cities driving growth with over 96% members (MSMEs) on the platform, from towns like Bareilly, Bhopal, Murshidabad, Lucknow and North 24 Parganas
Tide, the UK’s leading business management platform, today announced that it has surpassed 1 million members (MSMEs) in India. This rapid growth reflects the deep trust that Indian small businesses — from nano to micro and emerging SMEs — have placed in Tide to simplify how they register, run and grow their businesses. The platform has doubled adoption since its launch in December 2022. India has emerged as Tide’s largest and fastest-growing market globally in member acquisition, showcasing the success of its India-first strategy and strong product-market fit.
Gurjodhpal Singh, CEO, Tide in India, said, “This milestone is more than a number — it’s a story of trust. In just under three years, one million Indian entrepreneurs have chosen Tide to be their partner in growth. This reflects our commitment to helping small businesses – who have been gravely underserved – save time and money by giving them business critical tools across finance, admin and related commercial services that they need, to grow. India is where some of Tide’s most innovative products are being developed, creating strong use-cases to be implemented globally.”
A trusted business partner for India’s entrepreneurs
Tide’s success has always been rooted in scaling responsibly and delivering real-world impact. The company is doing so by building a unified, highly-connected digital platform that reduces the burden of business finance and admin. Over the past year, Tide has delivered product innovation at pace across India with products including:
Bill Payments: SMEs in India can pay their utility bills with no extra costs and earn rewards. The product is backed by enhanced security.
Udyam Registration: Enabling MSME registration and access to priority government benefits including low-interest loans, subsidies on electricity certifications, protection against delayed payments, etc.
GST Registration: help obtain a Goods & Services Tax Identification Number (GSTIN), enabling compliance, marketplace selling, input tax credit claims, and vendor trust.
Scheme Discovery: Smart matching of government benefits and subsidies to business eligibility.
Fixed Deposits Intermediation: Helping SMEs to earn competitive returns on their balances in a seamless and paperless experience.
NCMC Card Integration: A single smart Tide card that doubles up as a national mobility card, accepted across multiple transport modes.
Structured partners: Provides disbursement of funds to freelancers and vendors via a secure partner portal. Analytics on spending deliver real-time data so SMEs can make faster decisions about cashflow, a key pain point for SMEs.
Tide’s member make-up
Tide’s growth in India is being driven by a new generation of business owners, with over 85% (865,000) of its members under the age of 40, including 58% Gen Z and 42% millennials—reflecting the strong entrepreneurial momentum among India’s youth. And, with our oldest member at 95, simply proves that it’s never too late to do what you love.
The platform is scaling rapidly across emerging business hubs, with 63% of its members from states such as Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and Maharashtra, and a majority comprising small and micro entrepreneurs like local retailers, freelancers and service-led solopreneurs. With strong adoption in Tier 2, 3, 4 and beyond towns namely Bareilly, Bhopal, Murshidabad, Lucknow, North 24 Paraganas, Jaipur, Firozabad, Ghaziabad, Shahjahanpur and Kota — with not a single Tier 1 city in the top 10 — Tide is playing a significant role in enabling the digital transformation of India’s most underserved business communities.
Championing entrepreneurs beyond business tools
Tide believes progress happens when entrepreneurs are supported not only with products — but with recognition, access and ecosystem change.
Women in Business mission: On track to bring 500,000 women entrepreneurs onto the platform by 2027. Tide’s Bharat Women Aspiration Index brings forth voices from beyond metros to shape better policies for women entrepreneurs across Tier 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 towns in India.
Udaan Chronicles: Tide’s flagship mentoring roadshow, created to help small business owners in semi-urban and rural India, brings expert-led mentoring directly to entrepreneurs who lack access to formal networks and financial resources.
UK-India collaboration: Enabling SME expansion across borders through industry delegation. Contributing to critical dialogue shaping future trade for small businesses under the provisions of the UK-India FTA.
Tide’s progress in India is rooted in accountability and global investor backing. The company recently secured a $120 million strategic investment, in a funding round led by TPG. Tide is also deepening its long-term commitment to India — with a £500 million investment over the next five years, starting 2026. This investment underscores India’s role as a cornerstone of Tide’s global growth strategy, which will be used to fuel product innovation tailored for Indian SMEs, technology and AI-led development and expansion of Tide’s financial ecosystem — including payments, credit, and investment solutions.
Tide’s strategy in India emphasises digital inclusion — to bring formal financial and business services to underserved entrepreneurs outside major metros, in smaller towns and rural clusters. This approach aligns with the Government of India’s efforts to formalise and digitise MSMEs and increase their access to credit, markets and exports.
Among some of the exciting new features to be launched next year, include investments, acquiring, insurance, easy access to formal credit, banking services and advanced payment acceptance solutions. Tide is here to make managing business smoother and more successful.
About Tide
Launched in 2017, Tide is the leading business management platform in the UK. Tide helps SMEs save time (and money) in the running of their businesses by not only offering business accounts and related admin services, but also a comprehensive set of highly usable and connected administrative solutions from invoicing to accounting.
Tide has nearly 800,000 SME members in the UK (14% market share) and 1,000,000 SMEs in India. Tide launched in Germany in May 2024 and in France in September 2025. Tide has also been recognised with the Great Place to Work certification three years in a row. Tide has been funded by Anthemis, Apax Digital Funds, Augmentum Fintech, Creandum, Salica Investments, Latitude, LocalGlobe, SBI Group, Speedinvest and TPG, amongst others. It employs more than 2,500 Tideans worldwide. Tide’s long-term ambition is to be the leading business management platform globally.
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