PE firm Multiples invests $30 million in neobanking platform Niyo

Niyo co-founders Virender Bisht (CTO) and Vinay Bagri (CEO).

Multiples Alternate Asset Management has invested $30 million in neobanking platform Niyo to expand the startup's product capabilities and increase the customer base through organic and inorganic opportunities, the private equity firm said on July 19.

The proceeds will also be used for brand building and bolstering team strength across functions, Multiples said in a statement.

Moneycontrol was the first to report on June 20 that Niyo was in talks to raise funds from Multiples. According to sources, Niyo's valuation after this fundraise stands at over $500 million.

"With this fundraise, our focus is on enhancing product development, improving our product suite to have more consumer-focused products like credit cards, remittances, loans, etc, Niyo chief technical officer and co-founder Virender Bisht.

“Our foray into new product categories will help us leverage the massive tailwinds for digital financial products the market is seeing today."

The fundraise come after the company raised $100 million in its Series C round in February 2022 led by Accel & Lightrock India, with participation from Beams Fintech Fund.

While Niyo had not disclosed its valuation after the previous round, according to sources the company was valued at $350 million.

Founded by Vinay Bagri and Bisht in 2015, Niyo offers digital savings accounts, wealth management services including mutual fund investments, prepaid cards and other services in partnership with banks. The startup's partner banks include SBM Bank, Equitas Small Finance Bank, DCB Bank, Yes Bank and ICICI Bank.

Speaking on the investment, Multiples managing director Nithya Easwaran said, "Vinay and Viren are building Niyo with a strong technology and partnership DNA. We are very excited to partner with them in the journey to build India’s leading fintech platform and accelerate digital adoption of financial products across the country."

After the previous funding round, Niyo's founders had said that the company would get into lending next to complete its stack of offerings.

As reported by Moneycontrol,  Niyo is also in talks to acquire the personal-loan platform Smartcoin for anywhere between $100 and 120 million for the lending foray.

In the consumer neo-banking space, Niyo competes with players like Jupiter and Fi, which raised $86 million and $50 million in their last funding rounds, respectively.

Niyo serves around 4 million customers across its banking and wealth management products with over 10,000 new users added daily to its platform, the company has said.