Fintech Startup True Balance Raises $28 Mn Funding; Eyes Profitability

SUMMARY

With this fresh capital, the company plans to make the startup reach the break-even point and reach more underbanked users in India

Last year, True Balance had raised $23 Mn in a Series C funding round

True Balance’s saw revenue increase by 49.8% from INR 5.97 Cr in FY18 to INR 8.95 Cr in FY19

Gurugram and Korea-based mobile balance management service startup True Balance has raised $28 Mn in a Series D funding round.

With this fresh capital, the company plans to make the startup reach the break-even point and then profitability and is also working to reach more underbanked users in India.

True Balance (introduced by Balance Hero) was launched in 2014 by Charlie Lee. It converts a text message with an available balance to infographics so that the users can easily check the balance, purchase a prepaid account, recharge their balance and track data usage.

Last year, True Balance had raised $23 Mn in a Series C funding round. In total, the startup has raised about $90 Mn to date.

The investments reportedly came in from Korean investors which include NH Investment & Securities, IMM Investment, HB Investment, IBK Capital, D3 Jubilee Partners, SB Partners and Shinhan Capital. The company has raised $65 Mn from investors such as SoftBank Ventures Asia among others.

True Balance competes with other fintech players such as MobiKwik, Paytm, PhonePe, Mubble, Bill Bachao and many more.

True Balance had received an RBI license to operate its wallet service in India and began its operation in December 2017. True Balance wallet lets users pay in advance for mobile recharges, much like Paytm and Mobikwik. Users can also send money to each other using UPI. Since then, it has evolved into a financial services company.

True Balance’s FY 19 report showed that the company’s revenue increased by 49.8% from INR 5.97 Cr in FY18 to INR 8.95 Cr in FY19, while the loss stood at INR 46 Cr.

The company claimed that it saw 100% growth month on month after it introduced the lending feature in November 2019 but the business was affected by the pandemic. “Only August onwards the business started recovering and now has a 200-300% month on month growth rate,” Lee had said.

The company website shows that it has 75 Mn downloads, as of November 2020. The company claims to clock three lakh transactions daily and aims to bring financial freedom to primarily unbanked users by giving them a safe, fast and convenient transacting experience.