Sequoia leads $13m investment in India's BankBazaar.com
Sequoia Capital has led a $13 million round of investment in Indian financial services portal BankBazaar.com. Walden International, which invested $6 million in the company in 2011, also participated in the round.
Set up in 2008, Chennai-based BankBazaar is an online marketplace that provides instant customized rate quotes on loans and insurance products, generating revenues through bank commissions. It is looking to cash in on India's growing demand for financial product comparison sites driven by higher broadband and smart phone penetration.
The company - which raised $1 million from Chennai-based AVT Infotech in its first year of operation - plans to use the new capital to expand its footprint in home, car, personal, and educational loans and credit card products, according to The Times of India.
BankBazaar already has tie-ups with Axis Bank, ICICI, HDFC, Deutsche Bank, ING, Reliance Consumer Finance, Kotak Mahindra Bank, Fullerton India and Standard Chartered.
The company currently offers home loans, home loan transfers, personal loans and car loans. It also has loan calculating tools, including a home loan refinance calculator and a retirement savings calculator.
"A consumer today is exposed to a far greater number of choices for each financial product because of the proliferation of service providers," said Gautam Mago, a principal at Sequoia. "Helping India's 150 million internet users understand and navigate this market is the very significant problem that BankBazaar solves."
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