THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
A startup that was part of the ‘Fund of Fund’ scheme of the Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) has successfully raised Series A funding of $5 million from leading investors.
Open, a neo-banking platform for SMEs, bagged the funding of $5 million from a consortium led by Beenext, Speedinvest and 3one4 Capital. Existing investors Unicorn India Ventures and Angellist Syndicate also participated in this round.
Open will use the funds to scale up the team, besides planning to launch new products, including a credit card named DUO for startups, which has been scheduled to launch in March.
Dr Saji Gopinath, CEO, KSUM, said, “It’s a remarkable achievement by a startup from KSUM’s ‘Fund of Fund’ scheme, and we are proud of it. Open has set a perfect benchmark to be emulated by the startups in the state. I’m sure more startups will follow suit, realising the unique possibilities that are awaiting them.”
Anil Joshi, Partner, Unicorn India Ventures, said: “We are very excited to be part of second fund of fund initiative. I remember when we were considered for the first fund of fund, there were doubts if this would work. But glad to share that it not only worked but also brought many more funds to apply for second fund of fund initiative. This is happening only because of the vibrant startup ecosystem in Kerala and we are proud to be part of it.”
Founded in 2017 by serial entrepreneurs Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko and Ajeesh Achuthan, along with ex-TaxiForSure CFO Deena Jacob, Open is solving business banking challenges faced by SMEs.
Commenting on the investment, Anish Achuthan, Founder and CEO, Open, said: “When I set up my first startup in Kerala in 2001, there was no ecosystem for startups. But now with initiatives like KSUM, I am glad to see the support system being built for startups in the State to grow and sustain themselves. We’re glad to be part of the KSUM ‘fund of fund’ programme, and we hope our journey can inspire many more entrepreneurs to startup from Kerala.”
The platform today has grown to over 30,000 SMEs and has been processing over $2 billion in transaction run rate. It has been adding over 7500 SMEs every month.
In May last year, the platform had announced that it had raised pre-Series A funding in a round led by Unicorn India Ventures and Recruit Co. Ltd, through its investment subsidiary RSP India Fund LLC. The round was estimated to be around $2 million.
The company offers a business account in partnership with banks that helps SMEs automate and run their finances effectively. The account has tools that are required by a small business to send and receive payments combined with an automated bookkeeping tool to integrate banking into their business workflows.
KSUM is the nodal agency of Government of Kerala for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.
