Open, a Bangalore-based fin-tech startup that offers neo-banking services for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), has appointed Deena Jacob as chief financial officer and head of revenue and growth.
"As part of the leadership team, Deena would be independently driving revenue and growth initiatives through new product lines on lending and wealth management for SMEs," Anish Achuthan, co-founder and CEO of Open, said in a statement.
In her previous stints, Jacob was chief financial officer at app aggregator Tapzo, and head of finance at cab-hailing firm TaxiForSure and home decor marketplace Zansaar. She has also worked with Amba Research and Ernst & Young in the past.
"Being an entrepreneur, banker and a start-up finance specialist, this product is close to my heart... where I could interact with entrepreneurs and work on creative solutions for fledgling businesses,” Jacob said.
Open Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs Open, offers a digital bank account integrated with value-added tools for cash flow management and accounting automation. The digital business account is offered in partnership with financial institutions to automate payments for receivables and payables with integrated invoicing and book-keeping.
Open has partnered several financial institutions and non-banking financial companies. The platform is currently live with a set of closed beta customers and preparing for public beta by 25 November.
The startup was founded by Achuthan and Mabel Chacko in 2016. The entrepreneur couple’s previous venture, Zwitch, was acquired by CitrusPay in September 2015. Zwitch was a full-stack payment platform that enabled developers to accept online and mobile payments. Following the acquisition, Achuthan joined CitrusPay as vice president of new initiatives and business head while Mabel headed digital marketing and growth.
In July, Open raised $250,000 from PayU India CEO Amrish Rau and managing director Jitendra Gupta.