Neobank Jupiter in early talks to raise up to $50 million from existing investors to expand
The development comes about four years after Jupiter raised $87 million from investors including Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India at a valuation of $668 million.
Mumbai: Neobanking startup Jupiter is in early-stage discussions to raise $30-50 million from existing investors to fund expansion, according to four people familiar with the plan.
“QED Investors, Z47 (formerly Matrix Partners), Peak XV Partners, 3one4 Capital and Beenext will double down on their investment," one person said.
Peak XV declined to comment on the plan. Jupiter, QED, Z47, 3one4 and Beenext did not respond to Mint’s emails seeking comment.
“The company has received interest from external investors as well and the round could become larger," a second person said, adding that details of the exact size, terms and valuation are still evolving as the company improved its financials over the past two years.
Jupiter last raised $87 million four years ago as a part of its Series C funding round led by investors including Tiger Global Management and Sequoia Capital India at a valuation of $668 million, according to data from market intelligence provider Tracxn.
Also Read | Neobanking startup Jupiter sees three senior exits amid crucial restructuring
Amica Financial Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns Jupiter, also operates a non-banking financial entity that raised about $2.4 million from existing investors in June last year. In July, the company secured an NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India and, more recently, a mobile wallet licence. The NBFC licence allows it to lend.
The company achieved considerable success targeting mostly young, urban individuals for its credit business, which it now wants to replicate in the small and medium enterprise space, founder Jitendra Gupta told Mint last year.
Jupiter, which competes with companies such as Open, NiYO, FamPay, Fi Money, and RazorPayX, is among a dozen neobanks that have emerged in the past few years, looking to disrupt the banking, financial services and insurance sector.
Cost control
Founded in 2019, the company is an online-only platform that offers savings accounts, money transfers, and cash withdrawals and lets users monitor their transactions through a dashboard. Much like its peers, Jupiter is lossmaking, but it has focused on controlling cost decisions around hiring, technology, and revenue expansion.
Gupta said earlier that one of the goals was to shrink the time needed to recover the money spent on gaining customers.
“Last year, our visibility was that we would be able to recover our CAC (customer acquisition costs) in 22 months. This year, we will be able to recover our CAC in 14 months," he said.
Also Read | Jupiter’s many rings: After finding quick success lending to individuals, neobank eyes SMEs
Beyond banking and lending, cards, and revenue from its execution-only platform for mutual fund investments, Jupiter is looking at more co-lending partnerships and awaiting a licence to start insurance broking, which is expected to improve its revenue and margin profile.
Amica reported revenue rose to ₹80.5 crore in FY24 from ₹56 crore a year earlier. Its loss narrowed to ₹275.9 crore from ₹327 crore in FY23, according to Tracxn data.
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