Tencent joins fintech startup NiYO Solutions’ Series B round

Finnew Solutions Pvt Ltd, a Bengaluru based fintech startup that offers neo-banking services under the brand NiYO Solutions, has raised $35 million (Rs 240 crore) in a Series B funding round led by existing investor Horizons Ventures and Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings, which joins the round as a new investor.

The latest infusion takes the total institutional capital raised by NiYO to $49 million. JS Capital, another existing investor in the startup was also part of the round, the company said in a statement.

NiYO had previously raised $ 14 million from US-based venture capital firms Social Capital with participation from Bengaluru based venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners and other existing investors.  

The latest round of funding will be used to accelerate the development and rollout of new product offerings, amplify distribution and marketing and explore expansion into international markets, particularly in emerging economies which offer similar opportunities for digital disruption.

The company claims to currently serve around 1 million users and aims to service 5 million users in the next three years.

“Our core focus on customer value and customer service is paying rich dividends with strong growth across business metrics in the last 12 months. With this fresh round of funding we aim to fortify our service suite and further accelerate our growth,” co-founder and CEO Vinay Bagri said.

Founded in 2015 by Vinay Bagri and Virender Bisht, NiYO primarily offers two financial products – NiYO Bharat Payroll solutions that provides modern salary account for blue-collar workforce and NiYO Global Card provides the banking services for travellers. The payroll card is a zero balance account with facilities services such as instant account opening, salary advance and free accidental death insurance while global card enables effective international transactions.

The company has a large presence in the blue collared salaried segment through Bharat Payroll Solution, where it drives financial inclusion with tech innovations by providing banking services hitherto available only to privileged segment. The product is designed to digitally empower India’s massive blue-collar workforce, primarily in the unorganized and semi-unorganized labour intensive sectors.

Deals in the segment

Fintech companies have attracted considerable investor interest this year, with a focus on micro-lending, payments and neo-banking services.

June 2019: Recko, a fintech startup that helps companies reconcile digital transactions, raised $1 million in a seed round of funding from venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners.

June 2019: Peer-to-peer lending platform i2iFunding secured an undisclosed amount in fresh funding from existing investor SucSEED Venture Partners.

June 2019: Open Financial technologies raised $ 30 million in Series B round from Tiger Global and Tanglin Venture Partners. The SME-focused company automates accounting, reconciliation and payment functions apart from offering other banking solutions.

April 2019: Digital payments firm BharatPe, which helps kirana stores accept UPI payments from multiple wallets and offers them credit, raised $15.5 million in April from Insight Partners and existing investors Sequoia Capital and Beenext.

June 2019: Online payment gateway Razorpay raised $75 million in its Series C round from Ribbit Capital and Sequoia India.