Anthony Jacob
Anthony Jacob is a Sri Lankan-born entrepreneur and cross-border payments specialist whose career has been defined by the challenges of building a life and a business across geographies. He studied at the University of Cape Town before embarking on a career in venture-backed startups, including Bus.com (YC W16) where he focused on pricing and strategy, and his own venture Anjara, which was backed by Antler and Eigenspace. He later led growth across Asia and East Africa at Taptap Send, one of the world's leading cross-border remittance companies, where he developed deep expertise in the financial infrastructure serving diaspora communities.
The personal experience that led to Nila came during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Jacob found himself trying to coordinate care for his elderly parents in Sri Lanka from abroad — navigating fragmented healthcare systems, unreliable local networks, and the challenge of cross-border payments for medical expenses across time zones. Recognising that this experience was shared by millions of immigrants globally, he founded Nila in 2024 through Founders Factory's Aviva fintech venture studio.
As founder and CEO of Nila, Jacob has built a cross-border eldercare platform that connects diaspora families — primarily NRIs in the UK, US, Canada, and Australia — with vetted, trained Family Care Managers in India who coordinate all aspects of an elderly parent's care, from hospital appointments and medication management to medical payments and emergency response. The technology layer manages scheduling, documentation, payments, and quality oversight, while the human layer provides the trust and cultural attunement that families require. The platform operates in over 10 Indian cities and has maintained zero customer churn among its early users.
Nila raised $2.4 million in a pre-seed round led by LocalGlobe in October 2025, with participation from Redbus Ventures and angels from Revolut, Wise, and Nala. The company has a partnership with Aviva and is expanding its capabilities across India before entering additional Asian markets including the Philippines.
