Bengaluru-based banking technology startup Zeta is the latest entry to the unicorn club on the Indian shore with its Series C round of investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Zeta raised $250 million, pushing its current valuation to $ 1.45 billion. The deal more than quadruples Zeta’s valuation since 2019, when Sodexo SA had valued the startup at $ 300 million.
Zeta is banking on its simplified approach to attract customers. Rather than work with numerous supplies, as banks and financial institutions typically do, Zeta wants to combine all of those services and provide one cloud-based offering.
“Most banks are using decades-old software built when Mainframes and Cobol were in vogue. They have been slow to innovate and provide poor user experiences. With Zeta, FIs can leverage a modern, cloud-native platform and improve speed to market, agility, the cost to income ratio, and user experience,” said Bhavin Turakhia, CEO and Co-founder of Zeta.
Zeta wants to disrupt old traditional banking ways
Zeta wants to reimagine the core banking stack for traditional banks, which currently use older solutions like Finacle and Flexcube from IT firms. It intends to provide banks and FinTech with a mobile solution. Zeta serves over 10 banks and 25 FinTech firms across eight countries, including Sodexo, HDFC Bank, Kotak Mahindra Bank, IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, RBL Bank, SBM Bank India, and others. Bhavin Turakhia said, “With SoftBank’s investment, the company is looking to disrupt the “stagnant landscape of banking tech.”
Zeta’s Omni Stack comprises Zeta Tachyon credit, debit, prepaid processing with card controls and personal finance management capabilities. It also has Zeta Tachyon Loans, which is a modern buy-now-pay-later and personal loan management platform. Zeta Tachyon Deposits is a modern core for DDA, checking accounts, savings accounts, and deposits, and Zeta Tachyon Mobile, a ready-made, white-labeled, customizable mobile app for credit cards, checking accounts, prepaid, loans, buy-now-pay-later, personal finance management and more.
Bhavin Turakhia, who started coding at the age of 10 is a serial entrepreneur, founded Zeta in 2015. His startup claims that it provides only the fully modern platform for banks that can be deployed in parallel for new programs and new customers without uprooting legacy technology.
Softbank Managing Partner Munish Varma said, “Banking software is a $300 billion industry globally. Most banks still employ technology that is significantly older than their customers, impacting user experience and engagement. Zeta’s modern Omni Stack will drive banking software upgrades catering to the digital consumer and innovations in financial services globally.”
