Bengaluru-based financial technology startup Open, which provides collection and payout automation services for small businesses, has raised Rs 210 crore ($30.2 million at current exchange rates) in a Series B funding round led by Tiger Global.
Open classifies itself as a neo-bank, a type of bank that is fully digital and reaches its customers through mobile applications and personal computer platforms.
Other participants in the round include Tanglin Venture Partners Advisors and existing investors 3one4 Capital, Speedinvest and BetterCapital AngelList Syndicate, according to a statement released by the company.
The startup, operated by Open Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, said it will use the capital to increase its product offerings and expand its reach to one million small and medium-sized enterprises in the next one year. A spokesperson for the company said it was also looking to scale up its team to at least 200 through hires in its product, engineering and sales teams.
Open co-founder and chief executive officer Anish Achuthan said the key to the neo-bank’s growth would be matching increasing customer demand for a smooth financial management experience. The company is also looking to launch new products such as Open+, a business credit card, Achuthan added.
Open was founded in 2017 by Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko and Ajeesh Achuthan along with ex-TaxiForSure chief financial officer Deena Jacob. Anish and Chacko have worked on and set up several fintech startups previously, the most notable among them being Zwitch, which was acquired by CitrusPay in 2015.
The startup currently has 85 members on its team and has offices in Mumbai and New Delhi, apart from its headquarters in Bengaluru. According to its website, the company says its offers products like a business current account, an integrated payment gateway, automated accounting and a suite of application programming interfaces, among others.
The startup raised $4.6 million (Rs 32.40 crore) in a Series A round of funding from Singapore-based venture fund Beenext and early-stage venture firm 3one4 Capital. In May 2018, Open secured an undisclosed sum in a pre-Series A round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Japan’s Recruit Group. In 2017, it had raised $250,000 from PayU executives Amrish Rao and Jitendra Gupta.
Open is the latest startup to be funded by Tiger Global, which has made a series of investments in recent months. It is one of the most active venture capital investors in Indian companies with around 50 firms in its portfolio.
Earlier this month, the New York-based firm led a $15.5 million (around Rs 107.73 crore) Series A round in OkCredit, which helps merchants keep track of payments and credit records via a mobile application.
Tiger Global has backed unicorns including e-commerce major Flipkart, classifieds platform Quikr and ride-sharing firms Ola and Uber. It exited Flipkart last year when Walmart Inc. bought the online retailer.
After a lengthy hiatus in India, Tiger Global has been on a dealmaking spree in the country of late. It has made at least nine investments over the past three months alone, with business-to-business (B2B) bets emerging as a theme,
In May, Tiger Global co-led a Series B investment of $22 million (around Rs 196 crore) in logistics management startup Locus.
Also last month, it invested an additional $5 million (around Rs 34 crore) in The Viral Fever, an over-the-top (OTT) platform which creates original video content.
