Castler, the global escrow banking platform, has successfully secured $5 million in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Capital 2B and IIFL Fintech Fund, with participation from Stride Ventures, Piper Serica, and existing investors including Zerodha, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, and FAAD Network.
The capital raised will be utilized by Castler to expand its domestic and cross-border escrow product portfolio, establish partnerships with 25 banks, and drive substantial business growth in the coming years.
Castler aims to build a revolutionary operating system for the future of money management in India. Its distinctive Escrow Banking Stack acts as an intermediary between banks and enterprises, resolving challenges associated with evolving business and revenue models, intricate transaction flows, fund sources, identity verification, fraud management, and customer-consumer protection.
Operating since April 2021, Castler serves as a global escrow platform for enterprises, offering both domestic and cross-border escrow solutions. With 10 banking partners already on board, the company has gained the trust of over 500 enterprises, managing transactions exceeding INR 5000 crores monthly. Vineet Singh, Co-founder & CEO of Castler, expressed confidence in their unique digital escrow product, highlighting the significance of trust as a digital currency and the tremendous growth achieved by their 20-member team.
Vibhore Sharma, Partner at Capital 2B, emphasized the increasing importance of escrow banking as a fundamental component for various businesses and use cases. He acknowledged Castler’s mission to simplify and digitize escrow banking, making it widely accessible and inherently secure for all digital transactions and smart contracts.
Mehekka Oberoi, Head of IIFL Fintech Fund, recognized Castler’s game-changing solution that combines escrow, trustee, and transaction tools. She commended the company’s achievement in catering to both domestic and cross-border transactions, which opens up a market worth billions of dollars. IIFL Fintech Fund is thrilled to partner with Castler in democratizing escrow banking for consumers, SMEs, and enterprises.
Renowned figures in the fintech industry, including Navin Suriya (Chairman FCC), Ajay Rajan (Head of Transaction Banking & Digital Transformation at Yes Bank), and Naveen Kukreja (Co-Founder & CEO of Paisabazaar), have reinvested in Castler’s current funding round.
Prior to this, Castler raised $1.5 million in pre-seed and seed rounds from prominent investors such as Zerodha, Venture Catalysts, 9Unicorns, FAAD Network, Lets Venture, and AngelList.
