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Zolve, a neobanking startup that aims to help immigrants in the U.S. gain access to financial services, said on Wednesday it has raised $40 million in a new financing round as it begins to roll out its offerings.
Partners of DST Global led the Bangalore-headquartered startup’s Series A financing round. The round, which values the 10-month-old startup at $210 million and brings its all-time raise to $55 million, also saw participation from Tiger Global and Alkeon Capital and existing investors Lightspeed Venture Partners and Accel.
Tens of thousands of students and working professionals leave India for the U.S. each year to pursue higher education and for work. Even after spending months in a new country, they struggle to get a credit card from local banks, and end up paying a premium to access a range of other financial services.
Raghunandan G, a high-profile Indian entrepreneur who sold his previous startup to ride-hailing giant Ola, set out to solve this problem for Indians earlier this year.
Zolve rolled out its credit card to 2,000 customers (and amassed a waiting list that has surpassed 70,000) last month and immediately identified two insights, he said in an interview with TechCrunch.
Not only were the customers extensively using Zolve’s services and paying on time, he said, but the startup had also organically attracted demands from individuals who had immigrated from other nations such as Australia, United Kingdom, Canada and Germany.
