Fintech Startup NiYO Solutions Picks Up $13.2 Mn Series A Funding

Bengaluru-based fintech startup NiYO Solutions has secured $13.2 Mn (INR 85 Cr) in Series A funding from Social Capital, JS Capital LLC, Horizons Ventures and existing investor Prime Venture Partners.

 With the newly-raised capital, the startup will focus on diversifying its product suite and hiring new talent. The fresh funds will also enable NiYO Solutions to expand its presence across tier II and tier III 3 cities.

Furthermore, the company aims to utilise the funding to onboard 5,000 organisations and up to 1 Mn salaried employees on its platform by the end of 2018.

Commenting on the development, Sanjay Swamy, Managing Partner at Prime Venture Partners said, “NiYO’s strong growth since its inception is testament to both the innovative nature as well as rapid customer adoption of their solution which addresses a massive opportunity – providing effortless and innovative solution to manage payroll and benefits, powered by mobile. The combination of SmartPhone penetration and IndiaStack makes the timing right for NiYO’s patent-pending innovations to come to market. We are privileged to be associated with this stellar team from the start of their journey and be part of their vision to disrupt the payroll landscape.”

“NiYO is digitising the entire employee payroll and benefits value chain, making the process easier and more transparent for employers and employees alike. This is an area that hasn’t seen much innovation in the Indian technology ecosystem, despite the massive addressable market. We believe that India is on the brink of unprecedented consumer consumption, and that movement begins with infrastructure that manages people’s earnings in a reliable and modern way,” added Arjun Sethi, Partner at Social Capital.

NiYO Solutions Catering To 500 Corporates And 100K Salaried Employees

NiYO Solutions was founded in 2015 by banking industry expert and IIM Calcutta alumnus Vinay Bagri and mobile application and payments expert, Virender Bisht. At present, the fintech startup offers two kinds of products: Benefits and Payroll. Both of these products are intended primarily for white-collar employers and corporates.

Through the Benefits product, employers can easily disburse medical claims, travel allowances and reimbursements to employees. The Payroll product, on the other hand, enables employers to transfer salaries to an online bank account managed by NiYO. The platform has provision for Aadhaar eKYC and self-onboarding.

As stated by co-founder Virender Bisht, clients of NiYO Solutions are also given debit cards that support Visa and Mastercard payments at POS terminals.

In addition to allowing online payments, the cards can be used to transfer money using IFSC code as well as withdraw money from ATMs. Currently, the platform offers a limited number of free ATM withdrawals, after which it charges a specific fee on each withdrawal.

Speaking about the platform’s many offerings, Vinay Bagri, co-founder and CEO of NiYO said, “These are exciting times at NiYO. We deeply believe that the rapidly growing number of salaried employees in India have not seen much innovation when it comes to their own payroll and benefits. They are mobile and app-savvy and very demanding. At NiYO, our core objective is to maximise employees’ effective salary by bringing innovations in payroll and benefits processes.”

“Our aim is to optimise the product suite for employees in areas of taxation, lending and wealth. We have been fortunate to partner with JS Capital, Social Capital, Horizon Ventures and Prime – all of whom are top-tier investors with deep fintech and operational expertise to take us to the next level,” he further stated.

At present, the startup works in partnership with DCB Bank and YES Bank to provide the banking services.

Using NiYO’s mobile app, employees can also record expenses made via the card and seek reimbursements. Apart from that, users can also track their expenditures and allowances digitally.

Some of the other employee benefits that NiYO provides include canteen solutions, corporate gift card, meal cards, international travel cards, reimbursement accounts and corporate credit cards, among others.

According to Bisht, the company caters mainly to enterprises with a workforce ranging from 50 employees to around 500 employees. Currently, NiYO Solutions’ user base comprises 500 corporates and 100K salaried employees.

He added, “It’s been around a year and a half since we rolled out the product. The initial aim was to concentrate on the Delhi and Bengaluru markets. But we are now looking to expand to all manufacturing markets like Salem, Coimbatore, Peenya, Pune, and others in the coming months.”

The company currently generates revenue by charging an annual fee on each of its products. A portion of its revenue also comes from Merchant Discount Rate (MDR) charges, which are basically levied on transactions made at POS terminals.

Till date, NiYO Solutions has raised more than $14.2 Mn funding. In July 2016, it had secured $1 Mn (INR 6.7 Cr) from venture capital firm Prime Venture Partners. At the time, it was reported that the startup would be using the raised funds to expand its tech and sales team to 40 in the next six months.

Earlier today, another fintech startup Lendingkart raised $4.7 Mn (INR 30 Cr) in its first-ever foreign debt funding round from a Dutch development bank – Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V. (FMO).

Armed with the $13.2 Mn funding from Social Capital, JS Capital LLC, Horizons Ventures and others, NiYO Solutions is actively looking to expand its customer base by reaching India’s 75 Mn salaried employees.