Cross-border neobanking startup Zolve, started by ride-hailing company TaxiForSure co-founder Raghu G, has secured $251 million (about Rs 2,188 crore) in a mix of equity and debt capital as part of its Series B funding round.
HSBC, Japan’s SBI Investment, GMO Venture Partners, and DG Daiwa Ventures came in its new investors while existing investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group and partners at DST Global pitched in, too.
The startup didn’t disclose the breakup of the equity and debt components. But VCCircle has gathered that the equity portion is about $51 million while the remaining is debt. The total amount also includes a warehouse line of credit from Community Investment Management, which had provided debt to the startup in 2023 as well.
Zolve said it will use the fresh funds to expand its presence in Canada, followed by the UK and Australia, and also grow its credit portfolio by launching auto loans, personal loans, and education loans.
“Zolve aims to become a full-stack financial platform for global citizens, enabling seamless international money transfers, insurance, and investment products,” the company said in a statement.
In 2021, Zolve raised $40 million (Rs 300 crore) as a part of its Series A round led by partners of DST Global, along with participation from Tiger Global, Alkeon Capital, as well as existing investors Accel and Lightspeed Venture Partners.
The startup was launched by serial entrepreneur Raghu G in 2021. Before setting up Zolve, Raghu co-founded the cab aggregating platform TaxiForSure Aprameya Radhakrishna. The company was sold to rival Ola for $200 million in 2015. Radhakrishna later co-founded social media app Koo.
“Our experience of investing in pioneering global SaaS companies and in the financial ecosystem will enable us to support the company’s mission to offer financial products for international students and professionals worldwide,” Creaegis managing partner and CIO Prakash Parthasarathy and partner Nitish Bandi said in the statement.
Zolve services immigrants moving to the US, providing them with financial products such as bank accounts and credit cards to immigrants upon arrival. Its financial services let users start building a US credit history as soon as they arrive.
The company claims to have become customer-level profitable in early 2024 and is on track for company-level profitability by the end of 2025.
