India’s current household penetration of mutual funds is just under 4 percent. This is nothing when compared to mature markets like the US and if you haven’t figured it out yet — a change is must. One of the few companies hoping to increase these stats is Scripbox which announced today, closure of a Series B round led by the philanthropic investment firm Omidyar Network.
The latest investment round was a Series B round following a series A funding led by Accel Partners last year. The round was led by Omidyar Network with participation from existing investors including Accel Partners and some angels. The company said the fresh funding would be employed to expand its reach to customers in 1,000 cities by 2020 and educate young working professionals to save and expand their wealth.
As India moves from promoting adoption and usage of financial services to building consumers’ financial health, simplified offerings like Scripbox will become more strategic.
said Anuradha Ramachandran, director, Investments, Omidyar Network.
Scripbox is set to make a fundamental difference to the way Indians save and invest in their future, turning a deep understanding of consumers’ needs into an innovative technology-led platform.
Established in 2012 by former Citigroup executive Sanjiv Singhal, Scripbox is one of India’s fastest growing investment services. The company’s primary aim is to help individuals invest without confusing them with financial jargon. It also specializes in assisting with selection of best practices and helps with actionable money skills. The company has been striving hard towards changing the way Indians save and grow their wealth.
The company uses proprietary algorithms to curate a portfolio of 8 mutual funds from the overall group of over 8,000 in the country in three categories. These categories are equity, debt and tax savings.
Scripbox was also ranked as the second most influential financial services brand worldwide on LinkedIn.
Until now, Scripbox has assets worth almost 160 crore under its management. It has a wide reach in the country with a customer presence of 370 cities and towns. The customer base has also increased ten fold in the last year and half.
Commenting on the investment, E R Ashok Kumar, CEO of Scripbox said,
While we are working on helping young earners on their path to wealth creation, having support from Omidyar Network is a tremendous boost for our efforts. This association also reflects our similar brand philosophies and vision.
The company’s previously raised Rs. 4 crore from Accel Partners and Angels in 2013 at its seed stage.
