Open

Open Financial Technologies, operating as Open (open.money), is a neobanking platform established in 2017 by a team of serial entrepreneurs: Anish Achuthan, Mabel Chacko, Ajeesh Achuthan, and Deena Jacob. The founders' journey is deeply rooted in the fintech industry, with prior ventures including the payment platforms Zwitch, acquired by Citrus Payments, and CashNxt. These experiences provided firsthand insight into the financial management struggles of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), which directly inspired the creation of Open. Anish Achuthan serves as the CEO, Ajeesh Achuthan as the CTO, Mabel Chacko as the COO, and Deena Jacob as the CFO, combining expertise in product strategy, technology, and finance.

The company targets the SME and startup sector in India, a market segment the founders recognized as underserved by traditional banking. Open provides a digital business account that integrates tools for payments, automated accounting, expense management, invoicing, and tax compliance. By partnering with major Indian banks like ICICI Bank, State Bank of India, and Axis Bank, Open offers its services without holding a banking license itself, functioning as a technology layer over the existing banking infrastructure. This connected banking model allows businesses to manage finances from multiple bank accounts on a single dashboard, streamlining operations such as vendor payments, payroll, and receivables tracking. The platform makes money through subscription fees for its software and commissions on certain transactions.

Since its inception, Open has achieved significant milestones, including becoming India's 100th unicorn in May 2022 after a Series D funding round that pushed its valuation over $1 billion. The company has secured substantial investment from notable backers such as Tiger Global, Temasek, Google, and IIFL Finance. The platform serves over 3.5 million businesses and processes more than $30 billion in annualized transactions. Key product offerings include tools for GST-compliant invoicing, payment links for online collections, corporate cards, and API integrations that allow developers to embed banking services into their own business workflows. To expand its capabilities, Open has also made strategic acquisitions, including the consumer neobanking platform Finin in 2021.

Keywords: neobanking, business banking, SME finance, fintech India, payment gateway, automated accounting, expense management, Anish Achuthan, startup banking, connected banking, API banking, unicorn, digital business account, receivables management, payables automation, GST invoicing, financial operating system, Open Financial Technologies, Mabel Chacko, Deena Jacob, Ajeesh Achuthan, B2B fintech, cash flow management, corporate cards