With the funding and investment slowdown in Indian startup eco-system, there’s one startup industry that goated the trend. Venture in this space is often referred as the darling of investors. Yes! it’s financial technology or fintech, as it is popularly known. Venture Capital firms are writing cheques to these startups without a second thought as it appears.
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The increasing interest in the sector can also be witnessed with the increasing number of mergers and acquisitions this year. The most recent being the India’s ItzCash Card Ltd’s 80 percent stake acquired by US-based Ebix Inc. for $120 million. Besides, the Dubai-based OMA Emirates and France-based Ingenico Group bought mobile payment service firm MobiSwipe payment gateway company TechProcess Solutions, respectively.
Besides, the Dubai-based OMA Emirates and France-based Ingenico Group bought mobile payment service firm MobiSwipe payment gateway company TechProcess Solutions, respectively.
Paytm and Freecharge were also in trends as Paytm is likely to buy Freecharge cutting its valuation by 80 percent. However, no one knows what the future holds for the deal. Softbank, the investor of Paytm is likely to be behind this deal.
Let us talk about the fundings one by one. Let us skip Paytm as the digital payment giant has always been in trends and you all might already know about the company’s fundings and plans.
Bengaluru-based fintech company ZestMoney raised $6.5 million in a Series A round of funding led by Naspers-owned PayU, the company said in February this year. Existing investors, US-based Ribbit Capital and Omidyar Network, also participated in the round along with individual investors.
In May this year, digital consumer credit platform PaySense announced having raised $5.3 million as part of its Series A round, which was led by Jungle Ventures. The round also saw participation from Naspers Group and existing investor Nexus Venture Partners.
Bengaluru-based online lending platform for SME’s Capital Float raised $2.3 Mn (INR 15 Cr) from Mahindra and Mahindra Financial Services in April this year. The funds were raised against the allotment of non-convertible debentures (NCDs).
Lendingkart Group, an online lender to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) raised ₹30 crores in debt from Anicut Capital, media reported in April this year. The funding was raised against issuance of non-convertible debentures (NCDs), a type of debt security, to Anicut Capital, a Chennai-based alternative asset management firm.
In May 2017, fintech platform for fast loans, EarlySalary announced raising $4 million from IDG Ventures India (IDGVI) and Dewan Housing Finance Corp. Ltd. (DHFL) as a part of their Series A round of funding.
Speaking to YourStory, Co-founder and CEO Akshay Mehrotra said that almost 75 percent of the funds were to be utilised for building their lending book. The remaining amount will go into expanding their team, with a specific focus on machine learning skill sets, and helping grow the customer base.
Mumbai-based payment services start-up Airpay raised Rs 24 crore ($3.6 million) as part of a Series A round led by Kalaari Capital and existing investors Rakesh and Rajesh Jhunjhunwala. The company, operated by Airpay Payment Services Pvt. Ltd planned to use the funds to build its technology, sales, distribution and support infrastructure to expand its enterprise customer base, it said in a statement in March this year.
The company, operated by Airpay Payment Services Pvt. Ltd planned to use the funds to build its technology, sales, distribution and support infrastructure to expand its enterprise customer base, it said in a statement in March this year.
Telecom major Bharti Airtel acquired a strategic stake in Goa-based financial technology startup Seynse Technologies Pvt. Ltd, it said in a statement in February this year. The value of the investment was $3.5 million. Seynse has created the digital lending platform Loan Singh which provides consumers access to loans through its proprietary credit scoring engine, with a network of over dozen partner alliances, banking institutions and individual lenders.
Seynse has created the digital lending platform Loan Singh which provides consumers access to loans through its proprietary credit scoring engine, with a network of over dozen partner alliances, banking institutions and individual lenders.
Singapore and India-based, emerging market-focused fintech start-up Telr raised $3 million (about ₹20 crore) in a fresh round of equity financing, which has been led by the Innovations East fund in May this year. The three-year-old B2B startup will use the proceeds from the Series-B round of funding to further expand its presence, with a particular focus on Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
The three-year-old B2B startup will use the proceeds from the Series-B round of funding to further expand its presence, with a particular focus on Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.
Delhi-based RedCarpet, a student microlending startup has raised $2.5 Mn funding in a round led by Lightspeed Venture Partners in March this year. While Gurgaon-based fintech startup Loan Frame Technologies Pte Ltd raised $2.25 million (Rs 15.3 crore) in seed investment led by Vedanta Capital in January this year.
While Gurgaon-based fintech startup Loan Frame Technologies Pte Ltd raised $2.25 million (Rs 15.3 crore) in seed investment led by Vedanta Capital in January this year.
So Why Investors Love Fintech Startups?
Well! We want to leave this issue up to you. Dive into the depth of your analytical mind and try to find out the answer. Do comment below, your answers.
