Digital Banking Platform Open Becomes India’s 100th Unicorn After Series D

Digital business banking startup Open announced Monday (May 2) that it had reached a $1 billion valuation following a Series D funding round.

The valuation makes the Bangalore-based company — which bills itself as Asia’s first digital banking platform for small businesses, startups, and freelancers — the 100th Indian company to become a “unicorn” (a private company valued at more than $1 billion).

See also: SMB Digital Banking Startup Open Closes $100M Funding At $500M Valuation

The Series D was led by IIFL, along with returning investors Temasek, Tiger Global, and 3one4 Capital, and will help Open accelerate its new small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) lending offering with three new products, the company said in a news release.

“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,” the release said. “Open is targeting to disburse USD 1 billion in lending through the new suite of products on the platform in the next 12 months.”

In addition, Open says the funding will help it accelerate its existing product lines, such as the embedded finance platform Zwitch and BankingStack, an enterprise banking solution for banks. Open also hopes the funding can drive global expansion and help it grow to more than 5 million customers within the next 12 months. (The company says it has expanded its customer base to 2.3 million over the last year.)

Open says the funding will also help it “strengthen the leadership team” and double its headcount from 500 to 1,000.

Last year, Open raised $100 million in a funding round that was led by Temasek, with participation by Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital and new investors Google, Visa, and SBI Investment. That round brought the company’s valuation to $500 million.