Neobank Jupiter Raises INR 100 Cr In Venture Debt Funding

Mumbai and Bengaluru-based neobanking major Jupiter has raised INR 100 Cr ($12.12 Mn) in venture debt funding from Alteria Capital, according to a press statement shared by the startup.

Jupiter plans to use the funding towards further building and scaling up its lending products. The venture debt funding comes more than a year after the fintech startup raised $87 Mn from Tiger Global, QED Investors, Sequoia India and Matrix Partners.

Including the latest venture debt round, the neobank has raised around $169 Mn in funding from various investors.

“We are delighted to join hands with Alteria Capital who are also aligned on our mission to democratise credit in India and encourage responsible use of the same. This partnership will act as a catalyst for our efforts of building an all-inclusive and innovative platform for cutting-edge financial services products,” said Jitendra Gupta, founder and CEO of Jupiter.

“This is one of the largest commitments for Alteria and we are excited to partner with Jiten and the team at Jupiter to help facilitate their credit journey and make a meaningful impact in the Indian retail credit ecosystem,” Vinod Murali, managing partner & cofounder, Alteria Capital, said.

Founded in 2019, Jupiter partnered with Federal Bank to develop a layer-2 neobank, offering multiple financial services to users including a debit card, SIPs and mutual funds, personalised savings options, expense management, UPI payments and more.

Last year, the startup launched on-demand salary for Pro account holders. This allowed users with Jupiter accounts to draw an early salary in the form of a payday loan. It is also in process of launching international payments for users on its app.

Earlier in 2022, Jupiter was one of the startups which had to shut down its prepaid card offering following the Reserve Bank of India’s (RBI) order which banned loading non-bank PPIs with credit lines.

India’s neobanking ecosystem has more than 24 funded neobanks, having raised $869 Mn in funding between 2014 and 2022, per Inc42 data. It has created one unicorn so far as the B2B neobank Open became India’s 100th unicorn while the likes of Jupiter, Fi, Flobiz, Chqbook, Zolve and others compete with each other.

In 2022, the total neobanking opportunity in India stood at $48 Bn and it is set to grow to $183 Bn at a CAGR of 18%, representing 9% of the total fintech opportunity in 2030, according to an Inc42 report.