Comments
Open , a Bengaluru-based SME-focussed neo-banking platform, has raised $100 million in Series C round from Temasek, along with the participation of Google and SBI Investment.
Existing investors Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital also participated in the round. Open plans to use the funds to strengthen and accelerate its new product lines – Zwitch, its embedded finance platform and BankingStack, the cloud native SME banking platform for financial institutions which is currently deployed in over 15 banks in India. Over the next one year, Open will expand its base to 5 million SMEs and to global markets such as South-East Asia, Europe and the US.
Small businesses
Founded in 2017, Open offers a neo-banking platform that integrates all the tools used by small businesses and integrates it with the business current account. The Open platform powers close to 2 million SMEs and processes over $20 billion in annualised transactions. The platform also adds over 90,000 SMEs every month, making it the fastest growing SME-focused neo-banking platform globally. Avendus Capital advised Open on the deal.
Commenting on the funding, Anish Achuthan, CEO, Open, said, “Over the last four years, we’ve grown from strength to strength to be the fastest growing SME neo-banking platform globally. Our product offerings have helped nearly 2 million SMEs in the Indian market and we’re just getting started. We look to expand our product range in the coming months in embedded finance and enterprise banking. We also look to cater to over 5 million SMEs by August 2022.”
Domain expertise
Pranav Pai, Founding Partner and CIO of 3one4 Capital, said, “The team at Open have combined deep domain expertise and product-focused rigour to deploy a full-stack solution that places SMEs at the center of a universe of innovation. This platform has set the standard for business banking and will take this full stack approach into new adjacencies and geographies.”
Open Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd is an SME-focussed neo-banking platform. Open is founded by serial entrepreneurs Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko and Ajeesh Achuthan along with ex-TaxiforSure CFO Deena Jacob. Founded in 2017, Open works with close to 20,00,000 SMEs, processing over $20 billion in transactions annually and adding 90,000 new SMEs every month.
Open is backed by leading global investors like Tiger Global, Speedinvest, Beenext, Recruit Strategic Partners, AngelList, 3one4 Capital, Unicorn India Ventures, Tanglin Venture Partner Advisors etc. and has raised a total of $35 million in past funding rounds.
Comments
COMMENT NOW
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.