Neo-bank Zeta may rise to unicorn status in upcoming round led by SoftBank

By TEAM VCC

  • 15 Apr 2021
Credit: VCCircle

SoftBank’s Vision Fund II is in the process of leading a $250 million (Rs 1,874 crore) Series D round in Bengaluru-based Zeta that is likely to value the fintech firm at over $1 billion (Rs 7,495 crore), two sources told VCCircle.  

The global investor is also gearing up to invest approximately $450 million in Swiggy. The deal will mark Masayoshi Son-led SoftBank Group’s first direct bet in the foodtech sector in India.    

TechCrunch first reported about the impending fundraise by Zeta late Wednesday. 

Zeta, which started off as an HR-tech company, has made several inroads to become a neo-banking platform.  

The funding will come two years after it raised money from Sodexo Benefits and Rewards at a valuation of $300 million (Rs 2,070 crore). 

Operated by Better World Technology Pvt Ltd, Zeta was founded in April 2015 by Bhavin Turakhia and Directi Group colleague Ramki Gaddipati. 

At present, it offers a payment engine for issuance of credit, debit and prepaid products that enable legacy banks and new-age fintech institutions to launch modern retail and corporate fintech products.  

Last year, Zeta expanded to BFSI (banking, financial services and insurance) issuers in India, Asia, and Latin America. 

It has over 500 employees and clocks over one million transactions per day. 

In the past, Zeta has itself backed startups. It picked up a minority stake in Gurugram-headquartered PeopleStrong HR Services Pvt Ltd last year. 

In 2017, it made an undisclosed equity investment for a small stake in ZingHR, a cloud-based employee management platform.