Oct 13, 2023

7 Indian Fintech Ventures Recognized Among Most Promising Startups Market intelligence platform CB Insights and professional network Linkedin have released their respective lists of the most promising and fastest-growing tech startups to watch closely. CB Insights’ 2023 Fintech 100 list, unveiled on October 03, 2023, features 100 private market companies selected from a pool of over 19,000 companies and recognizes them for the traction they’ve received over the past year, the growth they’ve witnessed, as well as their market potential. LinkedIn’s 6th annual Top Startups in India list, meanwhile, features 20 young Indian companies that are growing fast, gaining attention, and which have trailblazed their way through recent economic and workplace challenges and managed to stand out to investors and top talent. Seven Indian fintech startups were selected as part of the two lists. M2P Fintech and Signzy made it into the CB Insights 2023 Fintech 100 list, while Ditto, Jar, Fi and DotPe were featured in the 2023 Top Startups in India selection. But more notably, StockGro, a social investment startup, is the only venture to be named in both lists and which is being recognized both domestically and internationally. Today, we take a closer look at these seven Indian fintech startups, delving into their product offerings and their latest achievements. M2P Fintech Founded in 2014, M2P Fintech is an application programming interface (API) infrastructure company that enables businesses of any scale to embed financial products in their customer journeys. The company’s platform allows businesses to quickly create and deploy fintech products by simplifying partnerships with banks, prepaid payment instruments (PPIs), financial institutions, and other regulated entities. Its comprehensive technology stack powers core banking systems, core lending suites, buy now pay later (BNPL) arrangements, customized credit cards, prepaid cards, and much more. Headquartered in Chennai, M2P Fintech operates in over 20 markets across the Asia Pacific (APAC), the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Oceania regions. The startup claims to serve 300+ banks, 100+ non-banking financial company (NBFC) and 800+ fintech engagements across various industries, reaching over 35 million end users. M2P Fintech has raised US$110 million in funding so far, data from Dealroom show . Its latest round was a US$2.7 million investment from Visa unveiled in September 2022. Signzy Founded in 2015, Signzy is a digital banking infrastructure provider. The company’s core offering is a digital onboarding solution for banks, NBFCs, and other financial institutions that make use of artificial intelligence (AI) and blockchain technology to deliver seamless, end-to-end and multi-channel onboarding journeys. Signzy’s no-code AI platform offers digital onboarding and verification, as well as fraud detection services. Customers can also use the platform to build custom solutions suited to their requirements. Using Signzy’s 240+ proprietary API microservices , customers can enhance functions like extraction, forgery detection and background verification against government databases. These APIs follow a plug-and-play approach, requiring minimum hassle for integrating with existing solutions, providing considerable reductions in overall operational expenditure. Signzy claims it works with more than 250 financial institutions globally, including four of the largest banks in India, top three acquiring banks in the US as well as in partnership with Microsoft and Mastercard. The company has also filed eight patents in the US and nine in India so far. Signzy is headquartered in Bengaluru and has operations in India, the US and the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The startup secured a US$26 million round of financing in September 2022 which it said it would use to support its expansion plans. StockGro Founded in 2020, StockGro is a social investment startup. The company provides a platform designed to help users master the art of trading and investment, offering a unique blend of in-depth investment education with social interactions and near-real-time simulated trading and investing. On the app, users can access a wealth of theoretical and experiential learning resources, tutorials, and expert insights; practice building portfolios and gain hands-on experience to refine their trading strategies; get personalized alerts on price movements, earnings reports and other important events; and more. StockGro claims it has managed to reach individual finance enthusiasts from over 750+ esteemed colleges and 30 startups in the financial sector. The platform has also garnered a thriving community of over 25 million users and stock market experts who exchange insights, discuss strategies, and learn from top portfolios. StockGro has raised US$40 million in funding so far. The startup is now looking to raise an additional US$50 million by the end of the year to scale its operations, invest in new technologies, and innovate in the virtual stock trading app market, Ajay Lakhotia, founder and CEO of StockGro, told BW Disrupt in May 2023. Ditto Based in Bengaluru, Ditto is a digital platform that helps people compare plans, understand policies, and buy insurance through its online platform. Ditto boasts a network of well-trained advisors who provide personalized assistance throughout the insurance purchasing process. These advisors also assist with the application process, including form completion and required disclosures, and provide post-purchase services, assisting buyers with claims as needed. Ditto also offers a 30-minute free call with one of these advisors and also throws in multiple follow-up consultations at no cost. The startup is said to have advised about 100,000 customers so far. Fi Founded in 2019, Fi is a money management platform that aims to re-imagine the banking experience in India. The company provides a savings account and an accompanying payment card provided by banking partner, Federal Bank, accessible through a mobile app. The app features payment capabilities, spends insights as well as tools to help customers grow their investments and earn rewards. It also offers mutual fund investment options, connected accounts services through partners such as epiFi Wealth Private, as well as other financial services like personal loans and US stocks in partnership with other regulated entities. Fi recently announced a partnership with insurtech platform Riskcovry to provide health insurance to customers of Fi’s salary program. Fi crossed the one million account threshold just 10 months of it becoming available to users. The company raised a US$62 million Series C in late-2022, bringing its total funding to US$137 million, according to Fintrackr estimates. Jar Founded in 2021, Jar is a micro-savings platform that helps users save fixed amounts from as little as INR 10 (US$0.1). The platform automatically invests spare change from customers’ online transactions in digital gold, and provides them with the ability to withdraw their savings directly into their bank accounts as cash or receive physical gold that’s delivered right to their doorstep. Jar secured a US$22.6 million Series B in August 2022 at a US$300+ million valuation. The round brought the startup’s funding to over US$58 million, TechCrunch reported . At the time, the startup claimed it had amassed over 9 million registered users and clocked over 220,000 transactions on a daily basis. Jar has reportedly been looking to expand its product offerings with lending, mutual funds, fixed deposits, peer-to-peer (P2P) loans and insurance products. DotPe Founded in 2020 and headquartered in Gurgaon, DotPe provides a platform for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to embrace technology and shift their daily business activities to go online. The company delivers a one-stop solution that enables centralized management of payments, order management, delivery management, data management, and other processes for offline businesses in India. DotPe’s ecosystem is tailored to meet the needs of companies of all sizes and types. With integrations with all popular online sales channels, in-store billing, inventory management, and reporting and analytics, businesses can streamline operations. Moreover, the company assists businesses in building online e-commerce stores as well as marketing and customer relationship management (CRM) systems. DotPe secured a US$58 million Series B funding round in September 2022, bringing its total funding to over US$90 million, Entrackr reported . The company told Business Standard that it would use the proceeds to add business-to-business (B2B) financial services such as neobanking solutions and lending to its offerings, and triple the number of merchants using the platform over the next two or three years. DotPe claims it has empowered 7.5 million merchants across various categories to go online with their businesses and is digitally powering the entire customer journey for 30,000+ restaurants and food courts in India.