Fintech is a portmanteau of the expressions “money” and “innovation” and alludes to any business that utilizes innovation to improve or automated monetary services and processes. The term incorporates a quickly developing industry that serves the interests of the two buyers and organizations in more ways than one. From portable banking and protection to digital currency and venture applications, fintech has an apparently unending exhibit of utilizations. The industry is immense — and will keep on extending for quite a long time to come.
According to CB Insights, there are 41- VC backed fintech unicorns worth a combined $154.1B. Here are the top 10 Fintech Indian Startups in India which are extending the boundaries.
- Upstox
Upstox limited is an Indian stock broking company. The company headquarter is in New Delhi, India. The company offers online investments in stocks, derivatives, commodities, currencies, mutual funds and ETFs for both professional traders and investors. Upstox has also ensured full transparency in pricing by offering zero brokerage on equity delivery trades and up to Rs. 20 per order for intraday, F&O, commodities, and currencies.
The founders, Ravi Kumar, Kavita Subramanian, and Srini Vishwanath conceived this idea of making trading and investing easier and cheaper and created Upstox for fellow young Indians. The Mumbai-based company is backed by industry giants like Tiger Global and Ratan Tata and currently has more than 250 employees and the fintech is striving to make trading a second nature for its users.
2. ETMoney
ETMONEY is an Indian financial services platform based out of Gurugram, Haryana. It allows users to invest in financial products like Mutual Funds, Fixed Deposits, NPS and also buys Insurance and take instant personal loans on the platform. ETMONEY is a part of The Times Group. ETMoney was founded by Mukesh Kalra in 2015. A passionate company that indulges in personal finance, has become the first fintech company in India to introduce Aadhar based SIP payments. With more than 100 crore bank accounts linked to Aadhar, the fintech plans to simplify instalment payments with Aadhar OTP verifications. The company has also partnered with Google Pay for a simplified way to invest in Mutual Funds and National Pension System.
3. Refrens
Refrens is fairly new to the fintech world in India. It was founded by Naman Sarawagi and Mohit Jain in 2019. Refrens provides a payment gateway system for freelancers to send and receive payments smoothly. It offers free invoicing, payments, and expense management systems. For freelancers, it becomes easy to enable options like adding payment methods, offering discounts, etc. for their clients. It is so easy to use that it is possible to create an invoice in just 30 seconds.
4. Financepeer
Financepeer is a Google incubated School (K-12) Fee Financing Company that helps to pay the entire year fees upfront to the School in one instalment and collects fees in 3 to 12 monthly instalments from parents that too at Zero Interest & Zero Cost. The Co-founders of Financepeer are Rohit Gajbhiye, Naveesh Reddy, Sunit Gajbhiye and Debi Prasad Baral.
The Financepeer business model is simple – it provides Zero Cost, Zero Interest monthly instalments to parents to pay their school fees. At the same time, on behalf of the parent, Financepeer pays the entire year fees to the School on Day 1. This way, the School does not face any collection issue and continues improving the quality of education. At the same time, the masses are also able to avail themselves of such quality education.
Currently, Financepeer is having a strength of odd 90 employees across India with 7 offices. Financepeer has a bunch of young minds full of ambition, dedication, and innovative minds. Work flexibility and encouragement by mentors at Financepeer allows the employees to give 110%.
5. BankBaazaar India
BankBazaar is a Chennai-based online financial platform founded in 2008 by Adhil Shetty, Arjun Shetty, and Rati Shetty for product distribution and comparison analysis. It enables users to buy personal loans, home loans, auto loans, and education loans.
BankBazaar also offers debit and credit cards, life insurance health insurance, auto insurance, travel insurance products, mutual funds fixed deposits, and savings accounts. With multiple offers from multiple banks, you can compare offers and check your eligibility in minutes. Users only need to provide basic details to apply for a product online and can track its status. BankBazaar’s revenue comes from application-based commissions from banks. Customers don’t need to pay any charge.
6. KredX
KredX is a Bangalore-based business finance intermediary platform, which provides SMBs with an invoice discounting service. The platform is operated by Minions Ventures Pvt. Ltd, which is headquartered in India and was established in 2015. KredX, allows SMBs to raise working capital finance. It does so by discounting invoices that have not been paid, from corporate as well as to a network of financiers operating on its platform, for a short tenure of 30-60 days. SMEs get the required working capital for their businesses in 24-72 hours and investors get decent returns on their investments with high liquidity.
The company operate a credit risk assessment model for borrowers on the platform, together with back-end technology that ensures that a secure platform for initiating transactions is offered. The Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur alumni Anurag Jain and Manish Kumar are the founders of the company.
7. Airtel Payments Bank
In 2015, eleven companies received In-principle approval from the Reserve Bank of India to set up payments bank under the guidelines for Licensing of Payments Bank. Airtel was one of them, and it launched Airtel Payments Bank in September 2016. Airtel’s first payments bank went live with its pilot project in Rajasthan in November 2016.
Airtel Payments Bank was launched in January 2017, by Bharti Airtel, India’s largest telecom provider, to support the cashless revolution promised by the Government of India. The bank’s capital at its establishment was ₹3,000 crore ($441 million). Airtel Payments Bank reported deposits of ₹68.33 crores at the end of the financial year ended 31 March 2017, which was its first year of operation. On 11 April 2016, it became the first company to receive the payments bank license from the Reserve Bank of India under Section 22 (1) of the Banking Regulation Act, 1949. Airtel Payments Bank is an 80:20 partnership between Bharti Airtel & Kotak Mahindra Bank.
8. PayU
PayU is a fintech company that provides a payment gateway and payment solutions for online merchants. The platform provides a seamless experience when users check out a particular website or mobile app. It integrates various gateways such as net banking, Visa and MasterCard, UPI, and wallets. PayU has integrated with giants like Netflix, Myntra, and Cred with unique payment solutions where customers can choose any payment option on any platform or website. It also enables customers to accept payments outside India from 100 plus countries.
9. Sqrrl Fintech
Sqrrl Fintech is a personal finance platform aimed at making savings and investment easy. It has its headquarters in Gurgaon, Haryana, India. Sqrrl has 20+ employees. It was founded in the year 2016. Sqrrl is a private company. Samant Sikka, Dhananjay Singh, and Sanjeev Sharma are Co-founders of Sqrrl Fintech. After launching in the year 2016, Sqrrl Fintech has raised a total of 1 million USD over 1 funding round.
Sqrrl is an investment and wealth management platform for young individuals and professionals. The company is registered under AMFI and SEBI and is available in 9 Indian languages. It encourages Indians to save and invest better while guiding them towards building an investment portfolio with baby steps. The company uses machine learning, AI, and data science to offer one-on-one assistance encouraging users to invest in high-performing mutual funds based on the risks, their goals, and requirements.
10. MoneyTap
MoneyTap is India’s first app-based credit line. It provides you credit and you can repay your credit amount in flexible EMIs of 2 to 36 months. MoneyTap aims to make credit accessible to the Indians who use internet banking. It uses customers’ details to evaluate the user’s eligibility and decide the credit limit. MoneyTap was launched in 2015 by Bala Parthasarathy, Kunal Verma, and Anuj Kacker.
MoneyTap provides a personal line of credit through its digital lending platform. It has its headquarters in Bengaluru, Karnataka, India. MoneyTap has 250+ employees. It was founded in the year 2015. MoneyTap is a private company. After launching in the year 2015, MoneyTap has raised a total of 82.3 million USD over in series A and Series B so far. Recently, the company rebranded into master brand Freo with multiple financial products for consumers, and the flagship product continues to be the MoneyTap Credit Line.
11. BharatPe
Digital payments startup Bharatpe has been upping its game in the fintech landscape. The startup claims to have 40 lakh merchants across 35 cities in India. In 2019, the startup claimed to have grown by 30 times. It currently accounts for a total payment volume of $3.5 billion. The three-year-old startup has raised a total of $142.5 million so far. In June 2021, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) issued an In-principle approval to Centrum Financial Services Limited to establish a Small Finance Bank (SFB). with Bharatpe. Till March 2021, It has expanded its network to 100 cities across India, including tier 2 and 3 cities. In June 2021, They acquired PAYBACK India from American Express and ICICI Investments Strategic Fund. It did not disclose the transaction value. In August 2021, BharatPe changed its leadership and elevated Suhail Sameer as the CEO from group president and Ashneer Grover as the MD.
12. Khatabook
Khatabook, just like its literal meaning in Hindi, is an account book for small and medium businesses. The business app helps business owners keep a check on their accounts, digitally. The startup claims to have 8 million merchants on its platform and said that “1 Million merchants are uploading data and engaging with the Khatabook app daily while adding $200 Million worth of transactions every day. High engagement and utilization of the platform has resulted in more than 25% of the total active merchants joining the platform through word-of-mouth and referrals.”
13. ZestMoney
Founded in 2016 by digital finance and technology professionals, Priya Sharma, Lizzie Chapman, and Ashish Anantharaman, the company is backed by leading global digital financial services investors like PayU, Ribbit Capital, Omidiyar Networks among others. The consumer lending startup aims to enable users who have no access to credit cards or any other formal financing options due to insufficient credit history. The startup has raised over $56 million so far.
ZestMoney is a growing consumer lending FinTech company that uses digital EMI, without the need for a credit card or a credit score. The company believes that being able to pay in EMI should be available to everyone and not only those who hold a credit card or have a credit score. With the use of mobile tech, digital banking, and AI, ZestMoney was made accessible to millions of Indian consumers.
14. Juspay
Juspay is a developer of an online platform designed to be used for mobile-based payments. The company’s online platform is a SaaS layer on top of payment gateways to simplify integration, improve robustness and ease the management of diverse and rapidly evolving payment options, enabling users to make electronic transactions securely and efficiently. The eight-year-old payments technology firm helps simplify the payment processes for merchants. The full-stack payments solution startup claims to have a 4 million daily volume of transactions. The startup has raised $27.4 million so far.
15. Niyo Solutions
Niyo is a personal finance management startup. Founded in 2015, the startup has over 800 employees and has raised $49 million in funding. At Niyo, the team is focused on creating banking that is simpler, smarter and safer for our customers by simplifying finance with technology.
Niyo partners with companies (employers) and banks to offer employees the opportunity to access their benefits, such as healthcare or food allowances, through a digital platform. That includes a mobile app for submitting claims and the option of a credit card.
16. KrazyBee
KrazyBee Services Private Limited is a Non-Deposit taking Non-Banking Financial Institution (NBFC) registered with the Reserve Bank of India. KrazyBee is founded by a group of experienced entrepreneurs and finance professionals with an aim to tackle some of India’s most pressing challenges in the lending space by offering a unique proposition through the use of innovative new generation technology and the availability of credit. With a vision to be the primary choice of credit for the borrowers in India, KrazyBee operates 24×7 and has tied up with the financial technology platform to cater for the various needs of the borrowers. With the strength of continuous innovation and raising the benchmark through the years, KrazyBee has provided credit to more than 2.2 million satisfied borrowers with the disbursement of more than INR 43 billion.
17. Zerodha
Zerodha Broking Limited is an Indian financial services company offering retail brokerage, currencies and commodities trading, mutual funds, and bonds. Founded in 2010, the company is headquartered in Banglore Valued over $1 billion, it is the largest brokerage firm in India by active client base.
Zerodha offers brokerage free equity investments and trading platforms to retail investors. It has its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. Zerodha has 900+ employees and a revenue of $64 Mn (2017-18). It was founded in the year 2015. Zerodha is a private company. Nithin Kamath and Nikhil Kamath are Co-founders of Zerodha. After launching in the year 2015, Zerodha has remained a bootstrapped venture.
18. PhonePe
PhonePe is an Indian digital payment and financial services company headquartered in Banglore, India. PhonePe was founded in December 2015, by Sameer Nigam, Rahul Chari and Burzin Engineer. The PhonePe app, based on the UPI, went live in August 2016. The PhonePe app is available in over 11 Indian languages. Using PhonePe, users can send and receive money, recharge mobile, DTH, data cards, make utility payments, pay at shops, invest in tax saving funds, liquid Funds, buy insurance and mutual funds and gold. In addition, PhonePe also allows users to book Ola rides, pay for Redbus tickets, and book flights and hotels on Goibibo through the Switch platform. PhonePe is accepted as a payment option at over 17.5 million.
19. BillDesk
BillDesk is an online payment services company with its headquarters in Mumbai, Maharashtra, India. IndiaIdeas is the parent company of Bill Desk. Bill Desk has 400+ employees and revenue of $132 Mn (2017-18). It was founded in the year 2000. Bill Desk is a private company.Karthik Ganapathy, Ajay Murthy, and M.N Srinivasu are Co-founders of Bill Desk. After launching in the year 2000, Bill desk has raised a total of 241 million USD over 4 funding rounds.
On 31st of August 2021, Naspers (via Prosus) announced that an agreement has been reached between PayU and the shareholders of the Indian digital payments provider BillDesk to acquire BillDesk for $4.7 billion.
20. Mobikwik
Mobikwik is one of the largest mobile wallets and one of the largest Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) players in India. Digitally paying users have been rapidly growing in India in the last decade, but the credit card penetration in the country is still only 3.5%. We are focused on addressing the unmet credit needs of the fast growing digitally paying users by combining the convenience of everyday mobile payments with the benefits of BNPL.
Founded in 2009 by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku, we commenced operations as a mobile wallet to make digital payments convenient for our users. Our use cases have since expanded to include bill payments, ecommerce shopping, food delivery, petrol pumps, large retail chains, pharmacies, kirana stores, etc. Our platform also enables peer-to-peer payments via unified payment interface (“UPI”), MobiKwik Wallet as well as MobiKwik Wallet to bank payments. Over the years we have amassed over 101 million Registered Users and more than 3 million ecommerce, physical retail and biller partners.
21. Paytm Payment Banks
Paytm was established by Vijay Shekhar Sharma and is possessed by One97 Communications and is authorized by RBI. Paytm has many partners such as Uber, BookMyShow, Foodpanda, MakeMyTrip and many more. Its investors include Softbank, Ant Financial, AGH Holdings, SAIF Partners, Berkshire Hathaway, T Rowe Price, and Discovery Capital.
The company partnered with Alibaba’s cloud computing arm – ‘AliCloud’ to expand its payment network at a global scale. They have investors like Berkshire Hathaway, SoftBank Group, and MediaTek and even raised an undisclosed amount from Ratan Tata in March 2015. It is arguably the biggest fintech company in India.
22. CRED
CRED is a fintech startup that offers rewards to customers who use its platform to pay their credit card bills. The startup is committed to safeguarding the data and information of its members. It functions on the guiding principle of opt-in consent and full transparency. CRED’s security processes and technology applications unified with regulatory compliance enables it to access, store, and utilise user data.
Founders: Kunal Shah, Founding Year: 2018, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, Funding received: US$ 256.5M
Investors: General Catalyst, Tiger Global Management, Sequoia Capital India, Hillhouse Capital Group, Coatue, DST Global, Ribbit Capital, RTP Global, Dragoneer Investment Group, Greenoaks Capital and 16 other investors.
23. LendingKart
Lendingkart is an online financing company founded by Harshvardhan Lunia and Mukul Sachan in 2014. Lendingkart Finance offers working capital loans and company loans to small and medium-sized businesses throughout India. They provide capital fully online, a fast process with minimal documentation and no collateral necessary. The goal of the company is to make capital funding accessible at their fingertips so that entrepreneurs can concentrate on business instead of thinking about their cash-flow gaps. As of now, they are based in Ahmedabad, Bangalore, and Mumbai, but work across India.
24. Razorpay
Razorpay is a payment solution in India that helps companies with its suite of products to receive, process, and disburse payments. It gives you access to all payment modes, including JioMoney, Mobikwik, Airtel Money, FreeCharge, Ola Money, and PayZapp, including credit card, debit card, net banking, UPI, and common wallets. It was started by Harshil Mathur and Shashank Kumar in 2014. Businesses can handle the marketplace, simplify money transactions, receive regular fees, exchange client invoices, and take advantage of working capital loans from a single platform.
25. Pine Labs
Pine Labs is a fintech platform that provides financing and last-mile retail transaction technology to merchants. These solutions are aimed at helping merchants increase their revenue, reduce expenditure, complexity, and risk. The startup connects financial establishments and consumer brands to enable merchants to deliver value to their retail customers. Its cloud-based platform powers 3,50,000+ POS terminals spanning 3700 cities and towns in India and Malaysia. Over 1,00,000 merchants across the electronics, food and beverage, fashion, airlines, and other industries use Pine Labs’ solutions. The Pine Labs’ platform claims to be associated with over 15 major banks, 7 financial organizations, and 100+ brands.
26. Policy Bazaar
PolicyBazaar was founded in June 2008 in Gurugram by Yashish Dahiya, Alok Bansal, and Avaneesh Nirjar. Policybazaar.com is now India’s largest insurance aggregator and one of the world’s top fintech players. The online platform originated as a website for price comparison and a knowledge source to learn about insurance and related programs. It later grew to become an insurance policy marketplace. The revenue for the organization is created by the fees paid for the promotion and advertisements of insurance providers on its website.
27. Instamojo
In September 2012, Sampad Swain, Akash Gehani, and Aditya Sengupta co-founded Instamojo. Instamojo collects fees, creates free online stores, ships goods, get loans, and more to boost your business. Micro-entrepreneurs, start-ups, small and medium-sized businesses are using Instamojo to start, market, run and expand instantly, using our suite of services such as payments, free online stores, logistics, credit and finance, and more through mobile and web platforms. Instamojo allows personalized business tools to help a business expand on the Internet.
28. Groww
Groww is an investment platform that has invented a new way of investing money with stockbroking and direct mutual funds. Its platform provides insights about mutual funds, efficient investment planning, equity-linked savings, and everything from the personal finance world, simplifying the investing process for new investors. Users can also invest in gold and US stocks through the Groww platform. The startup was also a part of Y Combinator’s winter 2018 batch.
Founders: Harsh Jain, Ishan Bansal, Lalit Keshre, Neeraj Singh, Founding Year: 2017, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, Funding received: US$ 59.2M
Investors: Y Combinator, Sequoia Capital India, Ribbit Capital, K50 Ventures, Insignia Ventures Partners, Propel Venture Partners, Friále, Y Combinator Continuity Fund, Cypher Capital, David Langer and 5 other investors.
29. Cashfree
Cashfree is a payment and banking technology startup that enables Indian enterprises to collect payments online and make disbursements. It has so far helped 50K businesses with payment collections, vendor payouts, salary and instant loan disbursements. Its clients include renowned internet companies such as Cred, BigBasket, Zomato, HDFC Ergo, Ixigo, Acko, Zoomcar, and Delhivery among others.
Founders: Akash Sinha, Reeju Datta, Founding Year: 2015, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, Funding received: US$ 40.9M. Investors: Y Combinator, Smilegate Investment, Apis Partners, Vellayan Subbiah, George Osborne.
30. OPEN
OPEN develops and provides an online space for banking and intercompany settlement. It offers digital banking services to startups and SMBs (small and medium businesses) that provide digital bank accounts which include a current account integrated with tools for bookkeeping, invoices, moving money, and accessing credit. Its API interface platform lets financial organizations merge banking and payments into their applications and accounting systems.
Founders: Anish Achuthan, Founding Year: 2017, Headquarters: Bengaluru, Karnataka, Funding received: US$ 7.4M
Investors: Speedinvest, BEENEXT, AngelList, 3one4 Capital, Recruit Strategic Partners, Kishore Ganji, Unicorn India Ventures, Jitendra Gupta, Amrish Rau, BetterCapital AngelList syndicate, ISME ACE – FinTech Accelerator.
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