Fintech Startup Uni Cards Acquires P2P Lending Platform OHMY Technologies

Buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) startup Uni Cards has reportedly acquired OHMY Technologies (OMLP2P), a peer-to-peer lending platform. OML is licenced by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to operate as a NBFC-P2P platform.

Uni Cards founders Nitin Gupta, Laxmikant Vyas and Prateek Jindal have joined the board of OMLP2P as directors on January 7, Mint reported.

The deal is estimated to be at INR 3-4 Cr range. However, it is not known yet if the deal has received RBI nod.

OMLP2P posted INR 33 Lakh in revenue from operations in FY22 and INR 1 Cr loss for the same period.

Founded in 2020 by Nitin Gupta, Prateek Jindal and Laxmikant Vyas, Bengaluru-based Uni Cards started with the idea to offer differentiated credit products to customers.

Uni’s business model took a hit last year after RBI barred non-bank prepaid payment instrument (PPIs) issuers from loading PPIs with credit lines last June. Following this, the fintech startup suspended card services for its products – Uni Pay 1/3rd Card and the Uni Pay 1/2 Card.

“Bearing in mind that the Uni Card was used for urgent needs like fee payments, medical bills and emergencies, we have ensured that every one of our customers will have access to their credit line through Uni Cash,” the startup said then in a statement.

Uni Cards raised INR 50 Cr through debt financing from venture debt company Stride Ventures last year. The startup secured $70 Mn in its Series A funding round at a valuation of $350 Mn in December 2021.

“This acquisition has been in play long before new guidelines or for that matter long before June 2022. It’s important part of our strategy,” Gupta said.

Lately, digital lending apps have come under the strict scrutiny of the government. In January, the government banned 232 online betting apps and loan apps, including many Indian platforms. However, the government later unblocked the websites and apps of several homegrown players.

Tech giant Google has also tightened its policy on such apps. These apps will now have to comply with more stringent guidelines to function and exist on the Play Store.

Under the new Play Store policy that will come into effect on May 31, the apps will have to declare if they are not directly engaged in money lending activities and are serving as platforms facilitating money lending by registered Non-Banking Financial Companies (NBFCs) or banks to users.

According to an Inc42 report, the country’s digital lending market is expected to reach $1.3 Tn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 22% between 2022 and 2030. Moreover, digital lending is set to account for 60% of the total Indian fintech market by 2030.