Looking for a new way to invest in gold? Here are some of the options available to you in India! If you are one of our Indian readers, it would come as no surprise to you that most people within the Indian subcontinent are obsessed with gold. Between April and December 2021, India imported US$38 billion worth of gold. India has a very strong informal system of exchange, which can be turned into cash and used in case of emergencies. This love for gold has transitioned onto the digital realm with the advent of “ digital gold ”. It is a way of investing in gold without physically stocking it up. It is just like physical gold, except it is kept in vaults by the seller on behalf of the customer. Not only is there consistent quality assurance, but it is also highly liquid. You can buy and sell digital gold anytime and anywhere in the world and can invest for as little as INR 1 (US$0.013). Wondering how you can jump in on a digital gold investment? Here are some of Indian startups trying to make digital gold popular in the country. Indiagold
Indiagold is an up-and-coming startup founded by Nitin Misra and Deepak Abbot, both of whom had previously worked with the Indian e-commerce giant Paytm. The platform allows users to keep their gold holdings in lockers . Once you sign up on their platform, inspectors from the startup’s team will come and evaluate your holding and place it inside a tamper-proof bag, which is then put into a steel box that is locked with your fingerprint. The cost to keep your gold holdings inside Indiagold’s lockers is much cheaper than in banks, where people traditionally store their gold. Customers can track the real-time value of their assets on Indiagold’s app. The company also allows you to take loans against your gold reserves and also protects your gold holdings with insurance coverage. As of 2021, the startup has raised US$12 million in Series A funding. OroPocket
OroPocket is a crypto-based firm that allows investors to buy cryptocurrencies backed by gold and silver. Investors can make a purchase on the platform by using traditional digital payment methods, like the unified payment interface (UPI) and debit or credit cards. Once they make a purchase, they would receive tokens of value equivalent to the actual asset. The asset backing the token would be held in storage lockers. Users can trade these tokens or get their gold and silver equivalents delivered straight to their homes for a fee. The platform allows you to instantly redeem the asset for fiat currency for up to INR 50,000 (US$666.24). Users can also get an asset-backed credit card with OroPocket. The money spent using the card is automatically adjusted with the asset holding that they have. As of 2021, the platform has 8,000 users and manages assets worth US$350,000. Rupeek
Rupeek is another platform providing users credit against their gold holdings. It operates in 35 countries and has dispersed loans worth INR 65 billion (US$852 million) . The company provides computer-aided appraisal services by sending gold loan professionals to a user’s house to assess the gold on-site. While traditional jewelers hire experts with the sole purpose of verifying the purity of gold, Rupeek’s tool automatically assesses purity by excluding the enamel, diamonds or other elements that may be present on the jewelry. Rupeek tracks the shipment of gold from the user’s house and stores their gold holdings inside packages sealed with machine-readable stickers. In January this year, the platform raised US$34 million in funding, bringing its value to US$634 million. Points to remember when investing in digital gold
While digital gold does come with a lot of benefits like liquidity and cheaper storage solutions for gold, there are certain aspects you need to consider before making an investment. Most digital gold platforms have a limit of INR 200,000 (US$2,661.96) for investment. Also, they are not regulated by authorities, like the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) or the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI). Further, there are additional delivery and making charges that you would have to pay on top of the cost of storage. In addition, some platforms offer limited-time storage, after which you would have to sell the gold or get it delivered back to you. Besides these startups, there are other options you have to invest in digital gold as well. For instance, one of India’s trusted jewelry retailers, Tanishq, launched its own digital gold products last year. So rest assured, you have a lot of options if you are looking to invest in digital gold. Make sure to put in some research before settling for any one of these options. Header image courtesy of Unsplash

India’s Top Digital Gold Startups

Chennai-based gold loan platform Oro Money has raised Rs 36 crore in a Series A round led by 021 Capital. This is the maiden funding round for the company which competes with Rupeek and Indiagold. Oro Money has allotted 1,077 equity and 3,716 Series A CCPS at an issue price of Rs 96,000 to raise Rs 36 crore, regulatory filings with RoC show. 021 Capital Scheme led the round with Rs 22 crore whereas Premji Invest has put in Rs 12 crore. Yash Amit Nanavati and Rathna Girish Mathrubootham have invested Rs 1 crore and Rs 50 lakh respectively. Prerna and Mridual Sahuwala also participated in this round. Oro Money provides gold loans at an annual interest rate of 9.48%. Currently, it’s operational in Chennai, Bengaluru and Hyderabad and according to its website, it will go live in Pune and Coimbatore soon. According to Fintrackr’s estimates, the company has been valued at around Rs 212 crore or close to $30 million after the allotment of the Series A round. Following the investment, 021 Capital has picked up a 10.37% stake in Oro while Premji Invest owns 5.66%. The company’s co-founders Parth Shah, Sreekesh Krishnan and Rakesh Mani own 15.15% each. Caratlan’s chief executive Mithun Sancheti and Siddhar Sancheti of Jaipur Gems holds 13.67% each. Please refer to the pie chart for the complete captable. This is the second bet by Binny Bansal in the gold loan space. His venture capital firm Tanglin Ventures had invested in segment leader Rupeek. Rupeek had scooped up $34 million round led by Lightbox. Apart from Rupeek, Oro Money also competes with Indiagold that had raised $12 million Seies A round led by PayU and Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI). Oro had remained a pre-revenue stage company during the fiscal year ending March 2021. According to its annual financial statements, the company had posted a loss of Rs 85 lakh in FY21.

Exclusive: Binny Bansal’s 021 Capital leads Series A round in Oro

Digital gold is an affordable medium to own and save with gold without the trouble of physically handling and storing the asset. Digital gold is an affordable medium to own and save with gold without the trouble of physically handling and storing the asset. Shivalik Small Finance Bank (SSFB) on Tuesday announced a partnership with fintech firm Indiagold to launch a loan product against digital gold. Digital gold is an affordable medium to own and save with gold without the trouble of physically handling and storing the asset, SSFB said in a statement. WATCH | Click on Zee Business Live TV Streaming Below:
"This collaboration will enable customers to use their digital gold balance to avail instant and digital loans up to Rs 60,000. On repayment of the loan, customers will have an option to either renew the loan or get their gold home delivered," it said. This alliance will enable customers to seamlessly access gold loans starting at a monthly interest of just 1 per cent, it said, adding, customers can now access credit against their gold assets without the hassle of branch visits, minimal documentation, instant transfer and zero processing charges. Being a progressive Indian bank, Shivalik has a strong digital-first approach aimed at customer convenience, and offers a range of services placing banking at the fingertips, said Shivalik Small Finance Bank Chief Operating Officer Gaurav Mittal said. This association is yet another step in the direction of accelerating the access of secure and affordable credit to customers looking for quick liquidity against their gold assets, he added. PTI

Shivalik Small Finance Bank, Indiagold partner to launch first loan against digital gold

Indiagold Raises $12 Million for its Gold-Focused Online Credit Platform
Indians are crazy for gold. As per the latest report, South Asian Market users have over 25,000 tons of precious metal, which is equivalent to almost half of the country’s GDP. To provide a credit on this Gold that is idly seating in the lockers for ages, Indiagold is providing online Gold based credit platform. The startup has raised $12 million to strengthen the above operation. Indiagold Closes New Funding Round
Indians are known for converting at least a part of their savings into gold for emergency use or the future. Gold demand is very high in India. As per a financial report, Indians stockpile more gold than citizens in any other country. The country is also one of the world’s largest importers of gold in south Asian countries. Gold can be utilized in two ways. First, it is one of the savings instruments, which protects from the ups and downs of the financial market. Second, Gold owners can get credit or loans based on their gold reserve. Selling gold jewelry is the last option in Indian households when they are in dire need of money. But, people don’t utilize their gold properly. Here comes the savior Indiagold, a young startup. The firm is initiating a gold-based digital credit platform. To provide this operation to the majority of users, the company has closed a Series A funding round of $12 million. The new financing event was led by Prosus’ PayU and Falcon’s Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI) fund. Better Tomorrow Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Rainmatter Capital, and Leo Capital are the other investors who actively participated in the fresh round. About Indiagold and its Operations
Nitin Misra and Deepak Abbot co-founded India gold in 2020. They both earlier worked in Paytm. The startup has a clear goal of providing an online platform for Indians so that they can secure and take advantage of their gold. The firm has two major operations. First, it helps the households to keep their gold in safe lockers easily. The firm also provides the best affordable plans to avail of the gold lockers. Second, the startup is providing loans against the gold reserves in lockers. The firm is strengthening second operations further by current funding. Talking about young startup’s operations further, co-founders told to Techcrunch in an interview, “This whole business is built around trust. Unless a norm in some circles of the startup ecosystem where you are expected to break things and move fast, we have to spend as much time with customers to build that trust.”
Once customers have kept their gold in Indiagold lockers. They can anytime check the value of their gold reserves online via the Indiagold app. And if they want to take a loan, the startup provides the loan facility within 30 seconds. As per analysts at Bernstein’s report of early 2021, Despite the large gold reserves held by Indian households, the gold loan market has barely scratched the surface. The gold collateral (166 tons) held by Muthoot Finance is less than 1% of the estimated gold reserves in Indian households (~25k tons). This is because gold is seen as a family heirloom and passed along generations.

Indiagold Raises $12 Million for its Gold-Focused Online Credit Platform

Indians are crazy for gold. As per the latest report, South Asian Market users have over 25,000 tons of precious metal, which is equivalent to almost half of the country’s GDP. To provide a credit on this Gold that is idly seating in the lockers for ages, Indiagold is providing online Gold based credit platform. […]
The post Indiagold Raises $12 Million for its Gold-Focused Online Credit Platform appeared first on Next Big Brand.

Shivalik Small Finance Bank is a bank that offers retail banking products and services. It provides deposit services, loans, internet banking, debit cards, lockers, foreign exchanges, and more. It was founded in 1997 and is based in Noida, India.

Shivalik Small Finance Bank

Shivalik Small Finance Bank on Tuesday announced a partnership with fintech firm Indiagold to launch a loan product against digital gold .

Paytm

Zapak Digital Entertainment

Tech Mahindra

Times Internet

Samsung Electronics

Nuance Communications

Bharti Airtel

NIIT

GE Capital

This collection contains companies that provide alternative means for obtaining a loan for personal or business use and companies that provide software to lenders for the application, underwriting, funding or loan collection process. 

Name	Work History	Title	Status
Deepak Abbot	Paytm, Zapak Digital Entertainment, Tech Mahindra, and Times Internet	Founder	Current
Nitin Misra	Paytm, Samsung Electronics, Nuance Communications, Bharti Airtel, NIIT, and GE Capital	Founder	Current

Name	Deepak Abbot	Nitin Misra
Work History	Paytm, Zapak Digital Entertainment, Tech Mahindra, and Times Internet	Paytm, Samsung Electronics, Nuance Communications, Bharti Airtel, NIIT, and GE Capital
Title	Founder	Founder
Status	Current	Current

Wells Fargo Success Story

3M Success Story

Platform Overview

Indiagold

Executives

Indiagold Management Team

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