The financial system has a mobility problem. When skilled professionals and international students move countries, their financial history doesn’t travel with them. Despite being high earners – the average international household in the US makes $135,000, more than double the US average – newcomers are often treated as high-risk borrowers with limited access to credit. Today, Zolve announces it has secured $251 million in equity and debt funding to scale its solution that’s making financial borders as seamless as geographic ones.
The funding round is composed of a $51M Series B round led by Creaegis, with participation from HSBC, SBI Investment, GMO Venture Partners, DG Daiwa Ventures and existing investors Accel, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Sparta Group and DST Global Partners. This round also includes a $200M warehouse line from Community Investment Management to fuel its growing credit portfolio across geographies. This substantial investment comes as Zolve reaches the 750,000 customers mark for whom the company has moved over $1.2 billion.
Prior to Zolve, highly skilled global professionals faced a financial catch-22: credit cards were declined without a local credit history, yet building credit required access to credit products. Banks offered only secured cards which required large deposits for minimal credit limits, and opening a bank account was often a complicated, time-consuming process for those new to a country.
In response, Zolve pioneered a unique approach that enables global citizens to access financial services from day one of moving to a new country. By leveraging home country financial data, the company provides US credit cards and checking accounts to professionals and students moving to America, solving the classic chicken-and-egg problem of credit access for newcomers.
“The financial system isn’t designed for mobility,” says Raghu 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 Raghu G, a serial entrepreneur who previously founded TaxiForSure, which was acquired for $200 million in 2015 and an angel investor and LP in various funds. Since launching in 2021, Zolve has achieved remarkable growth becoming customer-level profitable in early 2024 and is on track for company-level profitability by the end of 2025. Notably, 70% of customers come through referrals and word-of-mouth, underscoring strong organic demand.
Zolve’s funding comes at a pivotal moment for global mobility. Reports indicate that more 47.8 million foreign-born residents in the U.S. drive $1.7 trillion in spending power, creating a significant opportunity to serve this financially underserved yet highly creditworthy segment. Although the cross-border financial space has seen several players attempt to serve newcomers, many have struggled to gain traction or shut down entirely. What sets Zolve apart is its unique business model: costs in INR (Indian Rupees) and revenue in USD, focus on super-prime customers, and the ability to become the primary financial relationship for global citizens from day one.
“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.
Looking ahead, Zolve plans aggressive expansion into three key areas. Geographically, Canada is next, followed by the UK and Australia. The company will also expand its credit portfolio by launching auto loans, personal loans, and education loans. Ultimately, Zolve aims to become a full-stack financial platform for global citizens, enabling seamless international money transfers, insurance, and investment products.
“The goal is simple,” notes Raghu G. “Wherever global citizens move, Zolve moves with them.”
About Zolve
Zolve is a financial technology company, not a bank. The Zolve Debit Card and Zolve Credit Card are issued by their banking partners, all FDIC members (The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation).
Zolve’s mission is simple: we want to make financial products accessible to everyone. Zolve offers a plethora of products to simplify banking for global citizens, such as a bank account you can create from anywhere in the world in under five minutes, a high-limit credit card that helps build a healthy credit score and tailored products for newcomers – including low-cost international money transfers, education loans with a $50K student scholarship, facilitate international flight bookings with student discounts, US SIM cards delivered before they travel to the US and insurance products. For more information, please visit https://zolve.com/ or follow via LinkedIn.
