Cross border neobank Zolve secures $251 million in Series B funding led by Creaegis

Raghunandan G, founder, Zolve

Cross-border neobank Zolve has raised $251 million in its Series B funding round, which includes $51 million in equity and $200 million in debt.

The fresh funding will help the company expand its credit offerings and scale operations as it looks to grow beyond the U.S. market.

The equity component of the round was led by Creaegis, with participation from HSBC, SBI Investment, GMO Venture Partners, DG Daiwa Ventures, and existing investors such as Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group, and DST Global.

Meanwhile, the $200 million debt financing was secured from Community Investment Management (CIM), a U.S.-based impact investor specialising in credit solutions for fintech startups.

Moneycontrol had exclusively reported last year on Zolve’s fundraising efforts, noting that the company was in discussions to raise $25 million from Creaegis, with the possibility of the round increasing as negotiations progressed.

Founded in 2021, Zolve enables global professionals, students, and immigrants to access financial services when relocating to the U.S. The company provides users with access to U.S. bank accounts and credit cards before they move, leveraging their financial data from their home countries. This eliminates a major challenge faced by immigrants, who often struggle to secure banking services due to a lack of local credit history.

Since its launch, Zolve has served over 750,000 customers and facilitated transactions worth more than $1.2 billion. The company claims to have an 86 percent customer retention rate, indicating strong product-market fit and user satisfaction.

It also reported achieving customer-level profitability in early 2024 and is now targeting company-wide profitability by the end of 2025.

Looking ahead, Zolve plans to expand into Canada next, followed by the UK and Australia, as part of its mission to serve global citizens across multiple geographies, it said in a statement.

The startup is also preparing to introduce new financial products, including auto loans, personal loans, and education loans, as part of its broader strategy to become a comprehensive financial platform catering to the needs of internationally mobile individuals.

"The financial system isn't designed for mobility," said Raghunandan G, Founder and CEO of Zolve.

"When talented people move countries, their financial history is erased overnight. We're changing that by giving global citizens access to credit and banking from the moment they arrive."

Zolve was founded by serial entrepreneur and angel investor Raghunandan G, who previously co-founded TaxiForSure, a mobility startup that was eventually acquired by Ola for $200 million.

In October 2023, Zolve had raised a $100-million warehouse debt facility from U.S.-based impact investor Community Investment Management (CIM), to expand its lending capabilities.

“We are excited to partner with Raghu and team to build a differentiated digital platform to solve a large use case for Global professionals. 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” added Prakash Parthasarathy, managing partner and CIO and Nitish Bandi, partner, Creaegis, in joint statement.