Neobank Open turns unicorn after $50 million funding led by IIFL

Bengaluru: Neobank Open has closed a $50 million financing led by IIFL Finance along with participation from existing investors Temasek, Tiger Global and 3one4 Capital participating in it, people briefed on the matter said.

With this, Open has now entered the unicorn club with a valuation of $1 billion.

ET had reported in December last year that the company was looking to raise around $100-$150 million in this round but those talks did not fructify into a deal and the company has now closed a $50 million funding led by IIFL Finance.

When contacted, Anish Achuthan didn’t immediately respond to ETtech.

Open, going forward, will use the new capital and IIFL Finance’s strategic expertise to build out a lending business, people aware of the plans said.

The round comes on the back of Open raising $100 million in a funding round led by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, Temasek, in October, last year. The round also saw participation from strategic partners, payments network major Visa; search giant Google as well as Japan’s SBI investments.

The round had valued Open at $500 million, ET had reported in October, last year.

Open, which was founded in 2017, is a neobanking platform that provides small businesses with tools and integrates with their current account. At present, the company competes with the likes of Jupiter, Razorpay X, Niyo, among other competitors.