Grip Invest provides a lease finance platform where investors can purchase and lease assets to companies, providing them an additional investment instrument while enabling companies to grow faster by converting capex to opex
So far Grip has facilitated INR 75 Cr in investments with an 80,000+ retail investor community growing 30% month-on-month for the last 12 months
As of December, 2020, more than 400 investment tech startups had been launched
Asset backed investments digital platform Grip Invest announced today that it has raised INR 21 Cr ($3 Mn) in its Series A round led by Venture Highway and Endiya Partners.
The round also saw participation from AdvantEdge, existing investors Anicut Angel Fund and Gemba Capital, as well as ecosystem angels such as Cube Wealth and Citrus Pay founder Satyen Kothari, Cube Wealth CBO Gaurav Gupta, Cashfree cofounders Akash Sinha and Reeju Datta, Navi CFO Ankit Agarwal and FMS Launchpad. This brings the total funding received by the company to INR 27 Cr ($ 3.6 Mn).
Founded in 2020 by Nikhil Aggarwal and Vivek Gulati, Grip Invest provides a lease finance platform where investors can purchase and lease assets to companies, providing them an additional investment instrument while enabling companies to grow faster by converting capex to opex.
It enables investors to create a more diversified portfolio by providing access and transaction for multiple new age asset-backed investment options. The company currently allows retail investors to participate in lease and inventory financing transactions.
On the fund raise, Nikhil Aggarwal, founder and CEO, Grip Invest, said, “While fintech has revolutionized how we think about payments, stock-investing, loyalty rewards and money transfers, 99% of retail investors are still left with just two investment options – fixed deposits and mutual funds. Grip’s mission is to change the way Indians think about investing and facilitate wealth creation opportunities with healthy diversified portfolios. At the same time, we want these investors to have direct access to finance growth and asset creation for the businesses of tomorrow. For example, 40% of investments via Grip have gone towards building robust growth in the electric vehicles industry.”
Grip will utilise the capital to expand the range of investment products offered, launch new user features and strengthen its team as it targets to facilitate INR 1,000 Cr in investments by Sept’22.
According to a statement by the company, so far Grip has facilitated INR 75 Cr in investments with an 80,000+ retail investor community growing 30% month-on-month for the last 12 months. This retail investor base is from 42 countries and 322 cities globally
Additionally, the company claims that investments facilitated have enabled over 30 companies such as Udaan, Furlenco, Holisol, Everest Fleet, Loadshare, IPL Tech, ChargeZone, Zypp, Vogo, FleetX, FabAlley, BlueTokai to access a different channel of growth capital.
According to CDSL (Central Depository Services India Ltd) — a subsidiary of BSE (Bombay Stock Exchange) operating as a securities depository in India — the first six months of the country enforcing lockdowns witnessed almost 20% rise in new accounts, which exceeded 25 Mn overall in September. Furthermore, the Securities and Exchange Board of India revealed that of these new accounts, the majority belonged to those aged between 24 and 39.
The pandemic has accelerated the investment tech sector as people began paying more attention to their finances. For instance, the country’s online trading market is set to reach $14.3 Bn by 2025.
As of December, 2020, more than 400 investment tech startups had been launched. Additionally, according to data from Inc42 plus, Indian startups raised $379.2 Mn between 2015 and 2020. It further expected to grow at a CAGR of 22.4% in the next four years.
