Neobank Open Becomes India's 100th Unicorn The round was led by IIFL, with participation from existing investors including Temasek, Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital
By S Shanthi
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Neobanking fintech startup Open today announced its series D funding round from IIFL along with existing investors Temasek, Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital. With this round, Open is now valued at $1 billion making it the 100th entrant in India's unicorn club.
Open claims to have built Asia's first digital banking platform for SMEs, startups, and freelancers. It has increased its customer base to 2.3 million customers in the last 12 months. The strategic investment from IIFL will help Open accelerate its new product offering on SME lending, as the platform is gearing up for the launch of three new products aimed at enhancing the capital needs of SMEs apart from its existing SME credit card offerings. The new products include Open Flo – an innovative revenue-based financing product for ecommerce businesses, Open Settl – early settlement credit offering and Open Capital – working capital lending offering for SMEs. Open is targeting to disburse $1 billion in lending through the new suite of products on the platform in the next 12 months.
The funding will also help Open accelerate its existing product lines Zwitch (embedded finance platform) and BankingStack (enterprise banking solution for banks), drive global expansion and reach over 5 million customers within the next one year. The funds will also be used to strengthen the leadership team and increase the employee base from 500 to 1000 within the year.
Open was founded in 2017 by Anish Achuthan, Ajeesh Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, and Deena Jacob. "We are excited to partner with IIFL and existing investors Tiger Global, Temasek and 3one4 Capital for our series D round. We see a lot of synergies with IIFL especially on leveraging the lending book, as we are getting ready to launch innovative products like revenue-based financing, early settlement, working capital loan and business credit cards to SMEs on our platform," said Achuthan, co-founder and CEO, Open.
"We are delighted to be part of the most exciting neobanking venture in India. Indian MSMEs banking and credit delivery can be revolutionized by Open. We look forward to strengthening the partnership in multiple ways," added R Venkatraman, Co-promoter, IIFL Group & Chairman, IIFL Securities.
