Fintech Startup Uni Raises INR 50 Cr To Offer Interest-Free Credit Products

Fintech startup Uni has raised INR 50 Cr through debt financing from venture debt company Stride Ventures. 

The latest development comes after Uni secured $70 Mn in its Series A funding round at a valuation of $350 Mn in December last year. Uni’s round saw participation from General Catalyst, Eight Roads Ventures, Elevation Capital, Arbor Ventures, Lightspeed and Accel.

Founded in 2020 by Nitin Gupta, Prateek Jindal and Laxmikant Vyas, the Bengaluru-based fintech startup offers differentiated credit products to customers. Its founding team holds immense experience in the fintech and financial services sectors.

Last year, Uni launched its credit product Pay 1/3rd Card which helps customers split their transactions into one-third without paying any interest. With this product, the startup aims to resolve the short-term liquidity crunch that customers mostly face. 

Besides, Uni also permits customers to convert their transactions to ‘Pay in Full’, which means customers can pay the entire amount at one time, at the end of 30-day free credit period; following which, customers receive 1% cashback. 

In 2020, when Uni was in stealth mode, it bagged $18.5 Mn from Lightspeed India Partners and Accel Partners. 

Uni is operating in 130 cities of India including Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Pune, Chennai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, and Jaipur, among others, according to its statement. 

It faces competition from the likes of slice, zenda, Pocketly, and SaveIN in the buy now pay later (BNPL) segment. 

BNPL Helps Meet Customers’ Instant Gratification Needs

Indian consumers have begun inclining toward credit products offered by BNPL startups rather than opting for traditional credit cards. Since BNPL cards are easier to avail and do not require customers to meet eligibility criteria they are becoming an important means for consumers to shop, eat and spend without any concerns about money. 

Essentially, BNPL is helping meet consumers’ instant gratification needs to a great extent.  

Further, according to a report, India’s BNPL sector is anticipated to reach a $40 Bn market opportunity by 2025.

BNPL startups, for example, in April,  zenda secured $9.4 Mn in its seed funding round from STV, COTU, Global Founders Capital, and VentureSouq. 

In March, Bengaluru-based startup Pocketly bagged $3 Mn in its Pre-Series A funding round from Dholakia Ventures, CRED’s Kunal Shah, Pidilite’s Apurva Parekh, Organic Riot’s Siddharth Somaiya and Prophetic Ventures’s Aaryaman Vir Shah. 

During the same month, Mumbai-based startup Snapmint also secured $9 Mn in a Series A funding round from Prudent’s Prashasta Seth, 9 Unicorns, Anicut Capital, Negen Capital, Livspace’s Ramakant Sharma, and Usama Fayyad from Northeastern University. 

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