Castler, a global escrow banking platform, has successfully raised $5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Capital 2B and IIFL Fintech Fund. Additional participants in the funding round included Piper Serica and Stride Ventures, as well as returning investors Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, FAAD Network, and Zerodha. The funds secured in this round will be utilized to expand Castler’s portfolio of domestic and cross-border escrow products, achieve a tenfold growth in its business over the next few years, and establish partnerships with 25 banks to enhance its banking capabilities.
Castler aims to revolutionize money management in India by developing an innovative Escrow Banking Stack, which acts as an intermediary between banks and enterprises. The platform addresses various challenges related to complex transaction flows, fluctuating business and revenue models, identity verification, fraud management, and customer-consumer protection.
As a global escrow platform, Castler provides both domestic and cross-border escrow solutions to enterprises. Since its inception in April 2021, the company has partnered with 10 banks and has gained the trust of over 500 enterprises as their preferred escrow solution. With a monthly transaction volume exceeding INR 5000 crores, Castler’s Co-founder & CEO, Vineet Singh, emphasized the importance of their unique digital escrow product in establishing trust as a service. He also acknowledged the rapid growth achieved by their team of 20 members, highlighting the strength and capabilities of their product.
Vibhore Sharma, a Partner at Capital 2B and leader of the $5 million Pre-Series A funding round for Castler, expressed the growing significance of escrow banking in various business sectors and use cases. Sharma emphasized Castler’s commitment to simplifying and digitizing escrow banking for widespread adoption, with the ultimate goal of making trust an integral part of all digital transactions and smart contracts. He further noted that escrow has become a fundamental component of financial transactions, offering an essential layer of security and transparency throughout the value chain.
Mehekka Oberoi, Head of IIFL Fintech Fund, praised Castler’s unique solution, which combines Escrow, Trustee, and Transaction Tools, recognizing its potential to revolutionize the banking industry. The platform’s ability to cater to both domestic and cross-border transactions opens up a market worth hundreds of billions of dollars. Oberoi expressed excitement about being part of Castler’s mission to democratize Escrow Banking, enabling consumers, SMEs, and enterprises to benefit from its services.
Renowned figures in the fintech industry, including Navin Suriya, Ajay Rajan, and Naveen Kukreja, have reinvested in Castler during this funding round. Prior to this, the company secured $1.5 million in pre-seed and seed funding from investors such as Zerodha, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, FAAD Network, Lets Venture, and AngelList.
