Amica Financial Technologies, started by Jitendra Gupta, former founder of payments firm Citrus Pay, which was acquired by PayU, has raised a seed funding round of $24 million, valuing it at $70 million even before it has launched its product, said two people aware of the matter, requesting anonymity.
Investors in the round include venture capital firms Sequoia, Matrix Partners, 3One4 Capital, Tanglin Venture Partners, BeeNext, Germany’s Rocket Internet and London-based Greyhound Capital.
Other incoming investors include a number of prominent angel investors and entrepreneurs, such as Cred’s Kunal Shah, BookMyShow’s Ashish Hemrajani, Snapdeal’s Kunal Bahl and Rohit Bansal. It also has heads of investment firms, such as Falcon Edge Capital’s Navroz Udwadia and DST Global’s Rahul Mehta.
The Economic Times first reported the development on Monday.
Amica plans to operate in the neo-banking space, broadly understood as a play beyond conventional banking for enterprises or to consumers, involving the use of technology. The venture will provide savings accounts, investments and lending services to the salaried millennial population with an income demographic of ₹50,000 and upwards, in partnership with a large private bank, whose name is yet to be disclosed, the Economic Times report said.
Gupta confirmed the funding details but declined to give more information.
Mint reported that former Tiger Global head honcho Lee Fixel was also in talks to invest in Amica in his personal capacity, but the deal hasn’t been closed yet, the people cited above said.
While neo-banks have been operating in the US and Europe for a few years now, it is a fairly new trend in India, with 2019 being the first year to see significant venture capital flowing into the sector. At least three neo-banks–Open, NiYo and Juno–have raised funds in the last few months. While Open offers a business account in partnership with banks which helps businesses automate and run their finances, NiYo provides a global travel card, among other things, and other digital payment solutions.
Amica’s funding also continues the trend of increased investor interest for second time or experienced founders, who receive capital at outsized valuations given previous records of building and selling companies.
Source: Reuters.com