SUMMARY
The team at threedots plans to use the raised amount in strengthening its product offerings and expanding team
threedots’ app offers users a daily dose of financial news and a finance centric community apart from stock investing
As per the startup, there are 200 Mn people with investable income in India, but only 30 Mn investors
Community investing startup threedots has raised $4 Mn in a seed round of funding led by Kalaari Capital. Better Capital, iSeed, Cloud Capital, Kunal Shah (Cred), Lalit Keshre (Groww), Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter), Amrish and Sweta Rau (Pine Labs), Ramakant Sharma (Livspace) among others also participated in the round.
threedots was founded in March 2021 by Rishu Garg, Prakhar Bhardwaj and Akul Agarwal who are BITS Pilani alumni and have worked together at Groww. The founders have experience in product and scaling with backgrounds in working with companies like Clear (previously Clear) and smallcase.
The team at threedots plans to use the raised amount in strengthening its product offerings and team expansion.
Commenting on the fundraise, Rishu Garg, cofounder, threedots, said, “Our vision is to make threedots the next-gen community investment platform where people can learn, discuss & invest all at one place. Our goal is to shape and empower the investment ecosystem in India.”
threedots’ offerings come in the space where there is a gap in understanding the various investment options and choosing the right one for oneself. This fits well for everyone and especially millennials or first time investors.
As per the startup, there are 200 Mn people with investable income in India, but only 30 Mn investors. The only way to bring the next 170 Mn on board is by making investing simple. threedots aims to play a leading role in making it easier for the next generation.
threedots’ app offers users a daily dose of financial news and a finance centric community apart from stock investing. It provides a platform for members to leverage the knowledge and experience of stock/crypto market experts. It bridges the gap between market experts and users, which helps users to make quality decisions.
“We want to change the financial life of the next 100 Mn users in India who will be using financial services for the first time and help them create wealth. At threedots, we always practice & believe in hyper trust – within our users & our team, which was missing in the industry for so long,” Garg added.
Kiran Vasireddy, partner at Kalaari Capital and former Paytm COO commented, “Equity investments in India are expected to witness strong growth backed by the increased information access brought by platforms going digital. With current penetration only at 5%, there is a huge opportunity for a platform to help millennials come and learn from financial influencers the art of investing. We are impressed with Rishu and the team’s strong experience in building consumer internet products and excited to partner with them in their journey as they build threedots for the world.”
The startup targets youngsters who are first-time investors, lack a connected community where they can discuss investing and the markets with like-minded folks and keep themselves updated with the trends.
According to the startup, it has already onboarded 100+ market experts who guide users in their community as well as partnerships with Groww, Coindcx, and Finshots.
threedots has a team of 30 and expects to be 50-strong in the next few months. Its home-grown app is available on Android and ios.
India had over 14 Mn Demat accounts in FY21 vs 4.9 Mn in FY20. Currently, only 3% of Indians invest in the capital market which is poised to reach 15% by 2030 as compared to 55% in the US, the startup said in its statement.
According to a consumer spending report, only 31% of Indians are expected to invest in mutual funds while even fewer (10%) are expected to invest in equity. Comparing this to the number in a developed economy where more than 50% of the population owns equity of some kind, the presence of a clear market opportunity can be deduced.
Earlier this month, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella had joined Bengaluru-based wealth management startup Groww as an investor and advisor.
Last month, social investing and gaming platform StockGro had raised around $10 Mn in a fresh round of funding. The funding round was led by San Francisco-based BITKRAFT Ventures. Founded in 2020 by former VC Ajay Lakhotia, StockGro has a gamified virtual interface that enables users to discover trading strategies, compete and interact with others.
Update | 19th Jan | 16:50 PM
The feature image of the article has been updated to reflect the right picture of the founders.
