Digital banking platform Oxygen has secured $20m in its Series B funding round, which was led by return investors.
With the fresh capital, Oxygen will bolster the investment into product development and user experience. It also plans to hire more staff to meet rising demands.
Y Combinator, 1984.vc, Rucker Park and Possible Ventures were among the investment firms to join the Series B. Multiple notable angel investors also committed capital, including all-time NFL great Larry Fitzgerald, Deutsche Bank Global CEO Frank Strauss, Plaid co-founder William Hockey and Teachable founder and CEO Ankur Nagpal.
In addition to the Series B, Oxygen announced the appointment of David Rafalovsky as CEO. As part of this, Rafalovsky has become a major equity shareholder.
He takes over the role from Oxygen founder Hussein Ahmed, who will now serve as chief product officer.
Oxygen is a flexible, all-in-one digital banking service for consumers and small businesses. It also claims to be the first and only US neobank to launch for both the consumer and small businesses.
Rafalovsky said, “This marks a new era at Oxygen where we will build upon the incredible foundation created by Hussein and the Oxygen team. I look forward to charting the path forward for the company, building world class solutions for small businesses and gig economy participants.
“Not only are small businesses driving the U.S. economy, but they also keep the American dream alive. According to the U.S. Small Business Association, small businesses of 500 employees or fewer make up 99.9% of all U.S. businesses – Oxygen is planning to play a significant role enabling small businesses success.”
Prior to Oxygen, Rafalovsky served as the global CTO and global head of operations and technology for European digital bank Sber. He also served as the managing director, CTO of global functions for Citi.
He is also the chairman of the board and co-founder of ROVIAL Space, which hopes to equip the space economy with AI and robotics-based infrastructure enabling sustainable autonomous in-space businesses.
Oxygen previously raised $17m for its Series A round in January 2021. The investment was backed by Runa Capital, S7V, 1984.vc, EFG Hermes, Rucker Park and Inventures.
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