The Startup Is Working To Provide Micro Credit Cards To Blue Collared Professionals
Delhi-based Olly Credit, a fintech startup that offers micro credit cards, has raised an undisclosed amount of funding in Seed round of funding led by Incubate Fund. Former Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company CEO Sandesh Kirkire; Anand Kumar, Partner at Sand Hill Counsel and Jaipur Rugs Director Yogesh Chaudhary also participated in the this round of funding.
Nao Murakami, General Partner of Incubate Fund, confirming the fundraise, told Inc42, “Through this investment, we are looking to hone Olly Credit and help them grow rapidly. Eventually, we want them to solve the fundamental issue in India, which is the credit crunch of the masses.”
Established in 2015 by Ashwin Bhambri, Ringaile Noq and Anand Kumar, Olly Credit is a mobile-first platform that offers micro credit card with a dynamic credit limit of $307.4 (INR 20,000). The startup caters primarily to young blue-collared professionals with a minimum monthly salary of $169 (INR 11,000).
As claimed by Bhambri, users on the platform can get virtual VISA cards with an instant credit line within three minutes. He told ET, “Traditionally banks offering credit-cards have targeted only the creamy-layer evident by the fact that there are just 16.4 Mn credit cards users in India. Every working Indian should have a credit card and never fall short of basic purchasing capacity for groceries, bill payments and other essentials.”
According to Bhambri, users of Olly Credit rely on the platform for month-end expenses on essentials like groceries and bill payments. At present, the fintech startup is working with DCB Bank to reach employees of the hospitality and healthcare sectors. It boasts a diverse clientele that includes Piccadily hotels, ITC Hotels, Cygnus Group of Hospitals and Samsung.
Nao Murakami Led Incubate Fund Looks To Bolster Indian Startup Ecosystem
Incubate Fund is a Seed-stage focussed VC fund has presence in Japan, Singapore and India. It has invested in more than 200 startups so far. In 2016, the VC fund had set up an India-focussed fund. The fund was raised from Limited Partners including Innovation Network Corporation of Japan, Yahoo Japan, Sumitomo Mitsui Bank, Development Bank of Japan, Tencent Holdings, Sega Sammy Holdings, Mistletoe, TBS Holdings, and Mixi.
It has so far, made six investments in India. The fund currently focusses on multiple sectors including media, entertainment, gaming, online commerce, logistics, medical, financial, real estate, and housing. The ticket size of funding raises between $200K and $500K.
In December 2016, Incubate Fund led a Seed funding round in ShopKirana, a startup connecting brands and traditional retailers. Later in August this year, StayAbode, a startup that is building co-living spaces, raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Incubate Fund, along with Legacy Global Projects MD Sanjay Shenoy and Mridul Upreti (ex-Joint MD JLL India).
By investing in Olly Credit, Incubate Fund is looking to enter the country’s thriving fintech market, which is slated to touch $2.4 Bn by 2020, as per a Nasscom report. With the raised capital, the startup will strive to enhance the country’s credit card penetration.
