Fintech Firm Zolve raises $40 million led by DST Global & Others
DST Global led a $40 million (about Rs 300 crore) Series A fundraising round for fintech firm Zolve, with participation from Tiger Global, Alkeon Capital, and existing investors Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
Zolve is valued at $210 million in this round, which is one of the largest Series A fundraising rounds in India's startup industry. The company raised $15 million in its seed round in February, valued at $50 million.
Raghunandan G, a former TaxiForSure co-founder, launched the Delaware and Bengaluru-based firm, which specialises as a neo-banking platform for international migrants relocating to the United States.
Raghunandan said that the new funds will be used to increase the company's personnel as well as its product suite.
The company, which began full-scale operations last month, intends to grow into the European and Canadian immigration sectors.
“Since we launched, we have been receiving inbound request for funding from many investors and even this round was oversubscribed. We chose our investors very carefully as we want to learn from their experiences. DST and Tiger, for example, are on the cap table of some of the largest neo-banks and fintech startups in the world such as Chime, Robinhood, Revolut among others,” he said.
Zolve, which was launched in September, lets immigrants arriving in the United States to open bank accounts using a credit card before receiving a social security number. This is determined by their credit rating in their home nation. The company also intends to expand its services to include fast remittance, insurance, and loans in the near future.
Zolve claims to have over 70,000 customers from countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom.
“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. This incredible traction has been far beyond what we had envisioned and clearly demonstrates that there is a tangible need for a service that provides global citizens equitable access to financial products,” Raghunandan said.
According to statistics from Venture Intelligence, the transaction comes only weeks after Chennai-based CredAvenue received $90 million in India's highest ever Series A round, ahead of Ola Electric Mobility ($58 million in 2019) and Mensa Brands ($50 million in May 2021).
FamPay ($38 million in June 2021), Design Café ($29 million in December 2018), and Cred ($25 million in September 2018) are three more Indian firms that have raised big Series A investments.
“Zolve is among the few startups I’ve seen that achieved product-market fit right out of the gate. Given that the US is a country with immigrants in its DNA, it’s surprising how long it has taken someone to solve the issues that new immigrants experience with the traditional banking system,” said Anand Daniel, partner, Accel.
According to Bejul Somaia, partner, Lightspeed, access to financial services for immigrants traveling abroad holds high value. “The company's rapid acceleration, especially around customer acquisition and usage, is a reflection of the team's execution capability and significant unmet needs of Zolve's target customer base,” he said.
Zolve is valued at $210 million in this round, which is one of the largest Series A fundraising rounds in India's startup industry. The company raised $15 million in its seed round in February, valued at $50 million.
Raghunandan G, a former TaxiForSure co-founder, launched the Delaware and Bengaluru-based firm, which specialises as a neo-banking platform for international migrants relocating to the United States.
Raghunandan said that the new funds will be used to increase the company's personnel as well as its product suite.
The company, which began full-scale operations last month, intends to grow into the European and Canadian immigration sectors.
“Since we launched, we have been receiving inbound request for funding from many investors and even this round was oversubscribed. We chose our investors very carefully as we want to learn from their experiences. DST and Tiger, for example, are on the cap table of some of the largest neo-banks and fintech startups in the world such as Chime, Robinhood, Revolut among others,” he said.
Zolve, which was launched in September, lets immigrants arriving in the United States to open bank accounts using a credit card before receiving a social security number. This is determined by their credit rating in their home nation. The company also intends to expand its services to include fast remittance, insurance, and loans in the near future.
Zolve claims to have over 70,000 customers from countries such as Australia, Canada, Germany, India, and the United Kingdom.
“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. This incredible traction has been far beyond what we had envisioned and clearly demonstrates that there is a tangible need for a service that provides global citizens equitable access to financial products,” Raghunandan said.
According to statistics from Venture Intelligence, the transaction comes only weeks after Chennai-based CredAvenue received $90 million in India's highest ever Series A round, ahead of Ola Electric Mobility ($58 million in 2019) and Mensa Brands ($50 million in May 2021).
FamPay ($38 million in June 2021), Design Café ($29 million in December 2018), and Cred ($25 million in September 2018) are three more Indian firms that have raised big Series A investments.
“Zolve is among the few startups I’ve seen that achieved product-market fit right out of the gate. Given that the US is a country with immigrants in its DNA, it’s surprising how long it has taken someone to solve the issues that new immigrants experience with the traditional banking system,” said Anand Daniel, partner, Accel.
According to Bejul Somaia, partner, Lightspeed, access to financial services for immigrants traveling abroad holds high value. “The company's rapid acceleration, especially around customer acquisition and usage, is a reflection of the team's execution capability and significant unmet needs of Zolve's target customer base,” he said.
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