“When startups succeed, they do so against all odds. In the beginning, you have nothing except for your own talents and resources. By definition, everyone else is bigger, further along, and more established than you. To win, you have to swim upstream early on – and that requires hard work and long hours. There are no shortcuts.” – Clara Shih – American Businesswoman

In Dubai you can find information about thousands of startups as they launch their products and services almost every month and some of them secure their spot in the top startups of Dubai. Across the globe, the scenario is more or less the same. But people from less developed countries are more ambitious and churn out many startups related to various niches. Startups related to the engineering, medical and financial sectors are risky as they need to be perfect. Even a minor mistake can ruin your dream of getting that dream investment in your startup by a big technology giant. Big businesses look to back startups that show promise and potential. If you are trying to come up with a new printer, you won’t find many takers. But if you are working on a financial or medical product, chances are your startup will be lapped up by many investors. And that is exactly what happened with Zeta.

Zeta: The Banking Sector Superstar in the Making

Zeta is a Dubai-based banking tech startup that has secured a 250 million US dollars investment from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. It is currently valued at 1.45 billion dollars. And after this Series C investment and is amongst the largest single investment in a banking tech startup worldwide. It is now become one of the most popular payment gateway for your startup in UAE. So, you can imagine a future where startups like Zeta make a strong impact in the banking sector. And the market for a professional software can reach 300 billion dollars.

What Difference Would Zeta make?

Across the globe, banking software is still based on the technology used on Mainframe Systems, and the software is based on the primary language COBOL. There is tremendous scope for banking software, and this investment for Zeta will be a huge step towards making it the de-facto ruler. The success can primarily be credited to the two co-founders, Ramki Gaddipati, the CTO, and CEO Bhavin Turakhia.

The Co-founders believe that they can make a positive difference to the huge banking sector desperately in need of a revival. The use of tech software can revolutionize the stagnant landscape of this sector. It offer banks a chance to launch new products to consumers. Banks have to deal with many vendors who are still using old systems and software. With the use of archaic stacks that are older than the Internet, current software does not offer many solutions to the banking sector. 

Zeta is looking to disrupt the market with Zeta’s Omni Stack, including Debit, Credit, and prepaid processing with card controls and personal finance management capabilities. Another feature is Zeta Tachyon Loans which is a modern Buy-Now-Pay-Later and personal loan management system. Zeta also provides stellar solutions for deposits and mobile banking, since paperless banking will is the future. Let me shed some light on the role of Softbank and how it is shaping the startups the world over.

Softbank and Masayoshi Son

Softbank Group is a Japanese multinational conglomerate holding company having interests in various business sectors. It also funds startups and small businesses and injects billions of dollars every year.

Masayoshi Son is a charismatic figure and is the face of Softbank around the world. He is responsible for the success of several startups and currently owns Yahoo Japan corporation, SB technology corporation, and Z Holdings Corporation, among others.

Final Word

Zeta has not ventured into something that is ground-breaking as there are already several other players in the market. But with a huge investment from Softbank worth 250 million dollars has turned the tide. And it now has all the repertoire to take on other technology firms and startups also working on similar tech solutions for banks. 

The future belongs to technology, and the latest and cutting-edge solutions will be the key. Of course, more solutions will be launched by other startups and technology giants who are working in this sector, but for the time being, Zeta is making waves.

Do you have any experience of using any of the solutions that are launched by Zeta recently? Please share your experience with other readers of this blog and make this an interactive conversation. If you want to ask any questions or want some clarification, please speak up, and I will get back to you.

For any feedback too, please use the comments section below.