Fintech Player Tortoise Raises Funding From Swiggy, ZestMoney CEOs

Fintech startup Tortoise has raised funding from Swiggy CEO Sriharsha Majety and ZestMoney CEO Lizzie Chapman as part of its extended seed round. However, the startup didn’t disclose the funding amount.

The presence of Majety and Chapman will enable the startup to strategise a faster growth plan, Tortoise said in a statement.

“This round is our mentors round, where we are raising angel cheques from category-defining leaders like Lizzie and Sriharsha and expect a few more such visionaries to join in. We are well capitalised from our seed round, and hence this is less about the investment and more about access to such inspirational leaders,” Tortoise cofounder Vardhan Koshal said.

ZestMoney’s former vice-president Nikhil Joy has also joined Tortoise as a cofounder, the statement said.

Founded in 2020 by Koshal and Surya Harsha Nunnaguppala, Tortoise is a save now, buy later (SNPL) startup that allows users to save up for large purchases. Users can avail weekly and monthly savings plans over specific time periods, and then use it together to make purchases. The startup rewards the users for their savings through cashbacks.

Tortoise operates at the intersection of business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-customer (B2C) domains. On one hand, it allows users to trade their savings for items while, on the other hand, it offers a platform for brands to offer savings schemes to their respective customers and drive sales.

The development comes months after the fintech startup bagged $2.3 Mn in a seed funding round led by Vertex Ventures. Apart from the current extended seed round, the startup has raised $3 Mn till date.

Tortoise competes directly with players such as Mutipl and Hubble in the SNPL space.

Despite a purported funding winter engulfing the Indian startup ecosystem, the fintech space continues to see fundraises. As per Inc42 data, fintech startups raised 24.7% of the total $1.1 Bn funding raised by the Indian startups in August 2022. 

Despite the regulatory uncertainty surrounding the space, fintech startups also topped the charts with 23.8% of the total deal count in August.

From issuing digital lending guidelines to ban on loading non-bank PPI (prepaid payment instrument) wallets with credit lines, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has been tightening regulatory norms around the space. The space has also been mired in controversy over predatory lending practices employed by unregistered digital loan sharks which has even claimed the lives of many.

However, the fintech space continues to grow at a breakneck speed. Last week, EarlySalary raised $110 Mn as part of its Series D round led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners. In August, fintech player Liquide raised $2.2 Mn in its pre-seed funding round led by Singapore-based M Venture Partners. 

Prior to that, investech startup Jar secured $22.6 Mn in its Series B funding round.