Digital India, this is what we are witnessing these days. Wherever you go, even to the remote places of India. You can pay through the UPI or even book whatever you really wanted, and it’s happening. One sector that has been transformed more than most is banking. The days of standing in long queues, filling out forms, and waiting days for a simple transfer are fading away. Today, with a few taps, you can send money, track expenses, invest, or apply for credit, all without stepping into a branch. And right at the heart of this revolution is Jupiter, a new-age neobank that decided to take on the slow, outdated banking experience and turn it into something simple, fast, and user-friendly.
Jupiter is a digital-first bank, or to be precise, it is a neobank, which was founded in 2019 by fintech veteran Jitendra Gupta. Instead of being a traditional bank with branches and counters, Jupiter operates entirely through a mobile app. Jupiter makes banking fast, simple, and built for the way you live today. You can open a zero-balance savings account in just a few minutes, without the hassle of endless paperwork. Even with the help of Jupiter, it is now easy for you to send or receive money. With UPI payments and transfers, the app gives you clear insights into your spending patterns so you can stay on top of your finances. You can set up goal-based savings pots, whether it’s for your next holiday, a new gadget, or an emergency fund, and watch them grow. Jupiter also offers access to smart credit options like micro-loans and buy-now-pay-later, making short-term needs easier to manage. Plus, you can invest in mutual funds directly from the app. All this comes in a simple, gamified, and intuitive interface that makes banking feel less like chaos and more like a part of your lifestyle.
This company has scaled so fast because there’s a person behind it who has a deep expertise in this domain. And he already built something earlier, which gave him great exposure to building a company like Jupiter. Jitendra Gupta is the founder of Jupiter, but before even starting Jupiter, he had built and sold a company called Citrus Pay for about $130 million to PayU in the year 2016. This was one of the high-profile exits back then, and during the same time, he had witnessed how Indians interacted with money and how they spent, saved, borrowed, and invested. He saw a clear gap, which was that while payments had gone digital, banking still felt old-school, slow, bureaucratic, and disconnected from the way young Indians lived and spent in the smartphone era. So that’s how to solve this particular problem; Jupiter was born in 2019. Though it was born in 2019, officially it was launched in the year 2021 after two years of development and regulatory groundwork. The problem is strong, and the idea is strong, so even investors supported the move, which led to seed funding of about $24 million just within the three months of starting the business.
The idea is good, but scaling faster, especially in the banking segment, is not that easy, but Jupiter did it well with the help of partnerships. Instead of spending years pursuing its own banking license, Jupiter moved past regulatory hurdles by partnering with established licensed banks. One of its earliest collaborations was with Federal Bank, enabling Jupiter to offer real savings accounts instantly without handling compliance-heavy banking operations internally. Then, to diversify and strengthen its products, the company partnered with multiple other companies; one of them is CSB Bank. With the help of CSB Bank, they issued co-branded credit cards, including the Edge Rupay credit card. In June 2024, Jupiter received approval from the RBI to issue Prepaid Payment Instruments (PPIs), setting the stage to launch digital wallets for UPI transfers and other transactions. Jupiter has also explored deeper ties with the banking ecosystem, reportedly entering talks to acquire a 5% to 9.9% stake in SBM Bank India. So, undoubtedly, partnerships are something that have set a stage for Jupiter to scale the business without the common regulatory hurdles. Then other major reasons are contributed by the target audience. They focused on India’s young, urban, and smartphone-first population. Also, one of the reasons why it is so popular is because of its gamification. Jupiter gives spending insights, achievement badges, and progress trackers for savings goals. This gamified layer made financial discipline feel rewarding, and it kept people coming back to the app daily.
So, all these put together helped the company to scale up in the last 5-7 years. One of the most remarkable highlights in Jupiter’s trajectory is the sevenfold surge in operating revenue, climbing from ₹7.1 crore in FY23 to ₹51.2 crore in FY24, as per the consolidated financial statements of Jupiter’s parent, Amica Financial Technologies, along with its NBFC arm, Amica Finance. Jupiter has raised approximately $167 million to date, spanning seven rounds, including seed, early-stage, Series B, Series C, and debt financing. As of May 2024, Jupiter’s post-money valuation stands at approximately ₹5,370 crore. The company is in talks to raise $50 million, as per the recent sources. But the future of this company and how it will redefine India’s banking is a must-watch.
