BackTencent, Horizons lead $35 mn round in fintech startup NiYO
The funds will be used to accelerate the development of products and expand distributionNiYO is founded by banking veteran Vinay Bagri and technology veteran Virender Bisht
PremiumBENGALURU : Bengaluru-based digital banking start-up NiYO Solutions said on Tuesday that it has raised $35 million in a Series B funding round from Hong Kong-based Horizons Ventures Ltd, China’s Tencent Holdings Ltd and existing investor JS Capital of Israel.
NiYO is founded by banking veteran Vinay Bagri and technology veteran Virender Bisht. It had previously raised $14 million in a funding round led by Prime Venture Partners. With the current round, Niyo has raised a total of $49 million.
The latest fundraise will be used to accelerate the development and roll-out of products, expand distribution and marketing, and explore entering international markets, the company said in a statement. NiYO claims to serve around one million users, and aims to grow to five million over the next three years.
The NiYO Bharat Mobile App, for example, is available in eight languages and is speech-enabled. NiYO is also betting big on the international travel market with its forex solution, NiYO Global Card.
“With this fresh round of funding, we aim to fortify our service suite and further accelerate our growth," said Bagri, who is also the chief executive of NiYO.
NiYO aims to create a technology-enabled and value-added product and service offering layer over the existing banking infrastructure, to offer a comprehensive digital banking proposition to its retail and SME customer base. This is in line with the global mega trend of ‘open or neo banking’.
Sanjay Swamy, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners, said: “From our first meeting with Vinay and Viren, we were excited by the vision of bringing ‘neo-banking’ experience to the blue collar segment—helping drive the benefits of digitization, financial inclusion and to the hard-working masses in India."
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