Neobank Zolve Raises $40 Mn To Provide Immigrants Access To Financial Services

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Zolve has raised INR 300 Cr ($40 Mn) in a Series A funding round led by DST Global. Tiger Global, Alkeon Capital, and existing investors Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners also participated in the round. 

The ten-month-old company has raised this funding round at INR 1,575 Cr ($210 Mn) valuation.

Founded by Raghunandan G, Zolve is a neobanking startup that provides immigrants with access to FDIC-backed US bank accounts, debit cards and credit cards without the need for a social security number or a US credit history while they are outside the United States. 

The startup has more than 70,000 customers from Australia, Canada, Germany, India, the United Kingdom and other countries.

In February this year, it had raised $15 Mn in a seed funding round led by Accel and Lightspeed. 

It will use the freshly raised funds to ramp up hiring and technology and introduce products focused on instant remittance, insurance and lending. 

“While we intended to start with a small cohort of 500 users, we were oversubscribed by almost 90x from working professionals and students within the first few weeks,” said CEO and founder Raghunandan. 

Earlier this month, neobanking startup Open had raised $100 Mn in a Series C round at a valuation of $500 Mn. The round was led by Temasek and saw participation from Google and SBI Investment (a Japanese venture capital firm) and existing investors including Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital. Open offers business banking, payments and expenses management to enterprise customers. 

In August, neobanking startup Jupiter raised $44 Mn from Nubank, Global Founders Capital, Sequoia Capital India, and Matrix Partners India at a $300 Mn valuation. Jupiter offers a digital savings bank with built-in management features.