Closing $125m Series B funding for Thought Machine

International law firm Taylor Wessing has advised Thought Machine on a $42 million follow-on funding for its Series B round. The follow-on is being led by Eurazeo Growth with participation from British Patient Capital and SEB.

Due to close in early August, this brings the round’s total value to $125m following the $83m first closing in March that was led Draper Esprit with participation from existing investors Lloyds Banking Group, IQ Capital, Backed and Playfair Capital.

Taylor Wessing acted on the initial $83 million fundraising.

Founded in 2014 by former Google engineer Paul Taylor, Thought Machine has built Vault, a modern cloud native core system for banks constrained by legacy technology. Over the last months, the company has scaled up international hiring, adding 100 employees in the first two quarters of 2020 across three regions. Thought Machine has also expanded product compatibility to all major cloud providers and will be making major client announcements in the coming months.

This funding will strengthen Thought Machine's plans to grow its international business, hiring key roles in APAC, US and Australia, while continuing to develop new products and features, including its upcoming advanced payments solution.

Commenting on the transaction, Angus Miln, Partner and Head of the Corporate Technology team, said: “Thought Machine is a next generation, cloud native technology that is poised to transform core banking. Thought Machine has a huge scale of ambition and a fresh perspective, attributes that we share as a firm. It was a pleasure to work with Paul and his team again, underlining our long-standing relationship and helping this ground-breaking business to achieve another milestone on their mission to revolutionise the banking industry."

Paul Taylor, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Thought Machine, added: "The prospect of transitioning to cloud native technology is now at the forefront of every major bank’s roadmap. Plans have been hastened in the wake of regulatory pressure, economic uncertainty and the need to manage cost-income ratios. The Taylor Wessing team was integral to both stages of this Series B fundraising and brought with them the passion, commercial acumen and supreme legal expertise for which they are renowned in the market."

The Taylor Wessing team was led by Angus Miln with support from corporate associates Ellie Picton and Harry Ruffell, and corporate paralegal Sarah Palmer.

The Taylor Wessing team worked in partnership with Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati (WSGR), whose team was led by partner Dan Glazer with support from associate Jose Campos.