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

Digital business banking startup Open raised $100 million in a funding round led by Temasek, with participation by existing investors Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital and new backers Google, Visa, and SBI Investment, Economic Times (ET) reported, citing sources.

This round of new capital pegs Open’s valuation at an estimated $500 million. The Indian startup was valued at roughly $150 million after its previous funding.

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The fresh infusion of funds will be used to build out its product lines, which include embedded finance solution Zwitch and cloud banking platform BankingStack, Anish Achuthan, Open co-founder and CEO, told ET. BankingStack is used across 15 banks in India.

“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,” Achuthan said.

Read more: Visa, Open Combine Forces For Tech-Driven SME Banking

The digital banking startup has added 90,000 new small- and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) to its platform every month. The company has its sights set on expanding across Southeast Asia, Europe, and the U.S.

The new funding will also be used to expand its workforce by 800 in the areas of product, business, and technology.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Bangalore, Open’s customer base has grown to roughly 2 million SMBs and processes transactions worth more than $20 billion each year. The company is India’s largest banking platform for businesses, according to its website.

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In 2018, Open raised $2 million in Pre-Series A and the following year notched $5 million in Series A led by 3one4 Capital, Beenext and Speedinvest. Later in 2019, the startup notched $30 million in Series B round led by Tiger Global, Tanglin Venture Partners, 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest & AngelList Syndicate.