Exclusive: Tanmay Bhatt, Ankur Warikoo & 12 Others Invest In Wint Wealth

Debt investor aggregator platform Wint Wealth has raised an exclusive/special round for an undisclosed amount from a cohort of financial influencers. The funding round saw participation from Nearbuy founder Ankur Warikoo, Finology Ventures’ Pranjal Kamra, marketfeed founder Sharique, stock market courses maker CA Rachna Ranade and 11 others.

The round was strategically made available exclusively to retail investment subject matter experts and finfluencers [influencers in the financial sector] for three months, cofounder Ajinkya Kulkarni told Inc42.

“While the amount is not substantial, the expertise, reach and financial education that they bring is unparalleled. The readers/viewers that go to them are essentially our target audience,” he added, he further emphasised that the investors will act as experts to Wint Wealth’s product roadmap, as well as brand ambassadors.

With the inclusion of these stalwarts, Wint Wealth also claims that it will benefit from the influencers’ extensive network — in a bid to secure future funding. The finfluencers have a cumulative reach of over 40 Mn and will play a key role in introducing and educating retail investors about the alternative investment segment.

The current set of 15 investors includes Ankur Warikoo, CA Rachna Ranade, Pranjal Kamra, Labour Law Advisor (Mandeep and Rishabh), Mukul Malik (Asset Yogi), Akshat Srivastava, Raj Shamani, Shashank Udupu, Sharique, Tanmay Bhatt, Abhishek Kar, Invest Aaj for Kal, Think School, Abhi & Niyu and Vaibhav Sisinty.

The funds will be used for marketing purposes, as Wint Wealth is experimenting with certain undisclosed asset classes that will come out in the next 3-6 months.

Introducing Low Risk – High Return Debt Investment Route To Retail Investors

Founded in 2020 by Ajinkya Kulkarni, Abhik Patel, Shashank Chimaladari and Anshul Gupta, the company offers SIP-style aggregated debt instruments which are less risky and provide high returns — such investment opportunities are usually available to high-net-worth individuals (HNIs).

Featured in Inc42’s 30 Startups To Watch – January 2021 edition, Wint Wealth (previously GrowFix), started offering a fixed interest rate (10-11%) on loans with underlying assets such as gold or vehicles. Today, the startup boasts eight asset classes, with another 2 to 3 more in the making.

The startup believes that given the scenario where fixed deposits (FD) and debt mutual fund returns have come down considerably, there is a vacuum for products that give 2-3% higher returns than FD and are less volatile than equities.

Wint Wealth already claims to have an AUM worth INR 150 Cr to over 10K retail investors. The startup is eyeing 10x growth in the next 12 months with an aim to catapult its AUM over INR 1500 Cr and penetrate deeper into Tier III and IV markets.

The growth is backed by its association with the influencers, whose funding, as well as reach, will help the startup achieve marketing and expansion goals.

“Since financial education is at a nascent stage in India, we are glad to have onboarded experts who will bust myths about the debt investments segment. They will play a noteworthy role in Wint Wealth’s growth. The significant influence of these investors in the retail investor community will act as a catalyst for Wint’s growth in the coming time,” Kulkarni added.

Wint Wealth last year raised seed round funding from marquee investors such as Zerodha’s Rainmatter Fund, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Paytm Money’s Pravin Jadhav, First Cheque’s Kushal Bagia and Vaibhav Domkundwar’s Better Capital, among others.

What’s In It For Influencers?

While earlier big-name celebrities jumped at the chance to create private labels, these days the influencers are the leaders. Social media influencers and creators drive most of the conversation online these days.

Wint Wealth has similarly banked on the influencer bandwagon bringing the 15 influencers on board and creating a powerful brand image. With their skin in the game, Wint Wealth will come out looking like a trustworthy brand.

But what is in it for the influencers? Since the amount is not very substantial, when asked by Inc42, Kulkarni mentioned most of the wealth that will be created by influencers (in general) will be through equity investments and not their commercial relationships.

Digital platforms have a very unfair advantage [asset lightness and virtual reach] that most offline platforms don’t have, and thus money flows into them, he added. “For investors, especially in fintech platforms like ours, the equity will grow multi-fold.”