According to reports, fintech company Kiwi is raising $23 million from both new and existing investors. The Mumbai-based business has been waiting almost two years for this new fund.
One of the sources stated, "Vertex Ventures has issued a term sheet to lead the round." In this round, which will also include participation from current investors Stellaris VP and Nexus VP, Kiwi is anticipated to be valued at over $100 million (post-money).
Key Highlights
- Fintech startup Kiwi to raise $23 million in Series B led by Vertex Ventures, boosting valuation over $100 million.
- Kiwi’s virtual RuPay card platform expands credit-on-UPI reach with fresh $23 M funding and investor support.
This new round comes after Kiwi raised $13 million in its Series A round in November 2023, driven by the aforementioned current partners. The startup was valued at approximately $65 million at the time of the previous round.
Kiwi was established in 2022 by former Freecharge CEO Anup Agrawal, Satyam Kumar, and Siddharth Mehta. It allows customers to use RuPay credit cards to make UPI payments. The company has partnered with NPCI and Axis Bank to promote the use of UPI for credit.
Kiwi offers a virtual RuPay card that can be immediately connected to UPI apps like Google Pay and PhonePe, in contrast to conventional credit cards. Among others, Slice, OneCard, and Uni are competitors of the company.
Also Read: UPI Daily Transactions Hit Rs 90,446 Cr in August; SBI Tops Remitters
The Reserve Bank of India and NPCI are pushing for a larger usage of credit on UPI, which is consistent with investor interest in Kiwi. The program has gained popularity since its introduction in 2022, as banks and fintech businesses have been experimenting with ways to boost the use of credit in digital payments.
The company asserts that it was the first to introduce a full-stack credit service on UPI. As of the Series A financing, Siddharth Mehta, Anup Agarwal, and Mohit Bedi each own roughly 16.2% of Kiwi, according to startup data intelligence platform TheKredible. Nexus is the biggest external stakeholder in the three-year-old firm.
