Bertelsmann leads $30m round for India fintech start-up

Rupeek, a registered non-banking finance company (NBFC) founded in 2015, provides six-month loans secured through gold jewelry, with the value of the loan based on weight, purity, and the market price of gold. The company has physical branches but operates primarily via a branchless model where customers apply for loans via a smart phone app and their jewelry is picked up in person. It claims this branchless approach allows it to save on infrastructure and charge customers lower interest rates.

Like many Indian NBFCs, Rupeek targets the large population of lower to middle-income Indian consumers that lack traditional bank accounts, originating loans from large Indian banks that seek access to this market. The company offers Indian households a way to put their gold jewelry, which sits largely unused most of the time, to good use raising needed capital. It pledges to follow the highest industry standards for storing and returning users’ valuables.

“We are really excited about the belief our investors have placed in Rupeek’s mission to monetize India’s gold efficiently,” said Sumit Maniyar, founder and CEO of Rupeek, in a statement. “As a brand, we would like to bring transparency in the lending space and protect retail investor interest at all costs. We will be using our proprietary tech hardware to ensure standardization, fairness, and scalability in gold purity assessment.”

Existing investors Accel Partners and Sequoia Capital India, which committed $6.8 million last year and $12 million alongside Lok Capital in 2017 according to AVCJ Research. Rupeek will use the new capital to invest in its technology and storage capabilities, and also to scale into new markets.

• Tweet  
• Facebook  
• LinkedIn  
• Google plus  
• Save this article  
• Send to  

• Topics
• South Asia
• Financials
• Technology
• Expansion
• India
• TMT
• Financial Services
• Bertelsmann Asia Investments
• Sequoia Capital
• Accel Partners
• Growth capital