Zeta raises another $30 million from Mastercard, others

This is a continuation of the $240 million funding round that Zeta raised last May, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2. The round valued the company at $1.45 billion, marking its entry into India’s unicorn club. A unicorn is a privately held startup valued at $1 billion or more.

Mastercard’s investment in Zeta is a part of a strategic five-year partnership in which both companies will offer their credit management offerings and card-processing product stack. The company declined to share names of other investors that participated in this round.

Over the course of the partnership, both Zeta and Mastercard look to issue 30-40 million debit and credit cards and process $60 billion in total payment value through their banking and payment products. Through its white-label platform Tachyon, Zeta will also provide additional capabilities to bank partnerships of Mastercard.

Tachyon allows banks to roll out credit products, issue personal loans, offer buy-now-pay-later (BNPL), and upsell credit and reduce fraud.

Founded in April 2015, Zeta provides technology infrastructure to banks, helping them manage customer payments and deposits, while helping them embed offerings from fintech firms.

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“The core objective of the partnership with Mastercard is to jointly promote both brands in new geographies, leverage sale leads and add more value to cardholders by helping banks customise offerings. The partnership with Mastercard also helps us open doors in new geographies and ensure rapid integration while reducing our time to market,” Bhavin Turakhia, cofounder and chief executive officer of Zeta, told ET.

At present, Zeta continues to be focussed on India, the US and Southeast Asia. It will look to launch its solutions in Brazil and the UK by the first half of 2023, Turakhia added.

As a part of the partnership, Zeta has already started collaborating with Mastercard for innovation across the Middle East and North Africa, Europe and APAC. It is now looking to add another 20-30 global banks as clientele on its platform in the coming years.

Mastercard has been an active investor in the Indian fintech landscape. Its portfolio in the country includes fintech unicorns Razorpay and Pine Labs.