India Mints 100th Unicorn As Neobank Open's Valuation Touches $1 Billion
India got its 100th unicorn after five-year-old neobanking startup Open raised fresh funds at a billion-dollar valuation.
The fresh investment round was led by IIFL, the Bengaluru-based company said in a statement. Also, existing backers including Tiger Global, Temasek and 3one4 Capital participated. The company, however, did not disclose the amount raised in the latest round.
This comes just seven months after the startup raised $100 million, in a round led by Temasek, at a $500-million valuation. Open has raised about $187 million to date.
The fundraise underscores the euphoria in the startup ecosystem that was recognised as the world's third-largest by the Economic Survey 2021-22.
2021 was a bumper year for the startup ecosystem as it saw 44 companies turn unicorn. So far this year, India has seen 16 companies touch a billion-dollar valuation or more.
Open, operating as a neobank that offers small and medium-sized businesses as well as enterprises almost all the features of a bank, was founded in 2017 by former PayU and Citrus Pay executives Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko and Ajeesh Achuthan, along with Deena Jacob, the former chief financial officer at app aggregator Tapzo.
Open said it would launch three new products—Open Flo (revenue-based financing), Open Settl (early settlement) and Open Capital (working capital loans)—targeting disbursement of $1 billion in 12 months.
The investment is also expected to accelerate the company's existing product lines, drive global expansion, and enable it to reach over 5 million customers within the next one year.
The funds will also be used to strengthen the leadership team and increase the employee base from 500 to 1,000 within the year, the statement said.
-
Signature Play: The Classic Cocktail Is Dead. Or Is It?
Classic cocktails are disappearing from India's cocktail menus. But they're still being ordered, taught to bartenders and borrowed from. So, who's really having the last drink?
-
A New Samvat Wishlist: Inclusive Prosperity And Human Development
India has strengthened its economic foundations through infrastructure, digital access and enterprise. Its next growth chapter must deepen productivity, create better livelihoods and widen participation in prosperity.
-
Love, Sex Aur Dhokha: The Audacious Plot To Spy On Jensen Huang
A Taipei dinner, a Singapore chip buyer and a suspected Chinese asset: inside the alleged spy operation that got close to NVIDIA's Jensen Huang.
-
Ten Things I Learnt This Samvat
Patience can be a trap. Cheap stocks can stay cheap. Leverage can wipe you out. What did Samvat 2082 teach us? Niraj Shah writes on 10 lessons from the year gone by.
-
Talking Points This Week: Tech Nerves, FII Buying, And A Faraway Banking Shock
The global markets are not shining this Diwali. The exception in the large markets is, India.
-
Midterm Rally Lasted A Day. The Hard Reality Of A Divided US May Last Two Years | Opinion
Between a contested AI boom, a debt ceiling that arrives in 2027 and a president with every incentive to act alone, the next two years may prove more volatile than the first day's rally suggests.
-
Blue Wave Will Derail the AI Trade but Won't Dismantle the AI Era | Unhedged Position
The Democrats' sweep of the US Congress will see politics collide with economic forces both over the long and short term.
-
It's Time To Take The GST Council's Bet On Trust Global
Payment records can prove India's services exports, and clear, proportionate rules can bring foreign digital sellers into the tax net.
-
Opinion | India at 38: From Innovation Overperformer to Innovation Powerhouse
India now has 453 VC-backed deep science startups, 18 of them late-stage, after 117 percent growth since 2020. Laurus Labs, at USD 9.3 billion, is the most valuable deep science company in any middle-income economy outside China.
