Everyone loves gold, especially Indians. Not only is gold one of the most precious metals on the planet, but it is also a good and reliable asset when dealing in the financial market. However, with great benefits come greater dangers, and this is something Indiagold has been working on. The young start-up has raised $12 million in its Series A funding round led by led by financial services fintech PayU and Falcon Edge Capital-managed Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), marking PayU’s maiden venture into the digital gold sector.
Better Tomorrow Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Rainmatter Capital, and existing investor Leo Capital also participated in the round. The start-up has raised $14 million to date. Better Tomorrow Ventures, 3one4 Capital, Rainmatter Capital, and existing investor Leo Capital also participated in the round.
The proceeds from the funding round will be used to expand its business. The company has ambitious plans to expand to 10 cities by the end of the financial year as they continue to work on expanding its product offerings.
Founded by former Paytm executives Nitin Misra and Deepak Abbot, the one-year-old Indiagold is known for providing gold loans and secure gold locker services, as well as letting users buy gold coins through its app and website. At a time when the pandemic has led to an unprecedented surge in loans against jewelry, Indiagold’s efforts have been exemplary.
“India offers a large $650 billion addressable gold loan market which is highly fragmented and currently dominated by the informal segment,” Abbot and Misra said in a statement. “Even the formal segment hasn’t adopted digital practices at scale. Indiagold’s suite of financial products bridges this critical need gap…”
The fact that the Indian gold financing business remains mostly offline and that the informal segment accounts for 70% of gold loans highlights the need for start-ups like Indiagold, which claims to offer fast, safe and convenient solutions to monetize household gold to meet specific credit needs.
This, coming at a time when Indians are becoming more and more engaged with the investing world, is perfect for Indiagold.
“We are proud to have the backing of industry-leading growth investors and take it as a reaffirmation of the inherent strength of our value proposition. With the support of our existing and new investors, we are moving aggressively towards our larger vision of establishing gold holdings as an alternate credit score, and creating a gold back credit platform for lenders to provide instant credit against gold,” Misra and Abbot added. It has a strong technology stack, AI-based gold assessment capabilities, and superior customer-centricity to offer faster gold release and a transparent repayment policy.
“Indiagold’s unique doorstep gold loan and gold locker products not only offer unparalleled customer experience but also enable it to offer credit at more affordable rates. The traction Indiagold has seen in a short time is a testament to its superior product capabilities and the deep experience of its pedigreed founders. We believe the gold loan market is ripe for disruption and are thrilled to back Indiagold’s founders,” said Navroz D. Udwadia, co-founder of Falcon Edge Capital, in a statement.
