mumbai open a fintech startup on monday said it has raised 50 million about rs 382 crore in a round of funding led by the brokerage iiflthe round also saw participation from existing investors like temasek tiger global and 3one4 capitalthe bengaluruheadquartered company also announced that with this fund raise its valuation has crossed 1 billionit has become the 100th such unicorn startup in the country having a valuation of over 1 billion it said in a statementindia is home to the thirdlargest startup ecosystem in the world and has seen a massive surge in the number of unicorns in the last yearthe funding will help open accelerate its existing product lines drive global expansion and reach over 5 million customers within the next one year the statement said adding that the funds will also be deployed to strengthen the leadership team and double employee base to 1000 within the yearopen which serves small businesses startups and freelancers has increased its customer base to 23 million in the last 12 monthsthis is a strategic investment from iifl which will help open accelerate its new product offering on sme lending the statement saidit is targeting to disburse 1 billion through a new suite of products in the next yearwe are delighted to be part of the most exciting neobanking venture in india indian msmes banking and credit delivery can be revolutionized by open we look forward to strengthening the partnership in multiple ways said r venkatraman copromoter of iifl group and chairman of iifl securitiesopens cofounder and chief executive anish achuthan said he sees many synergies with iifl in the runup to the launch of products like revenuebased financing early settlement working capital loans and business credit cards to small businesses