Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella Invests In Indian Fintech Unicorn Groww

SUMMARY

Satya Nadella has joined as an investor and advisor in the Bengaluru-based wealth management startup Groww

In Oct, Groww had raised $251 Mn led by ICONIQ Growth at a $3Bn valuation

In April 2021, Groww entered the unicorn club after raising $83 Mn in its Series D round

Satya Nadella, the chief executive officer of the second most valuable company in the world– Microsoft, has joined as an investor and advisor in the Bengaluru-based wealth management startup Groww.

Lalit Keshre, the founder and CEO of Groww took to Twitter on Saturday to announce the development. In a tweet he said, “Groww gets one of the world’s best CEOs as an investor and advisor. Thrilled to have @satyanadella join us in our mission to make financial services accessible in India.”

Groww gets one of the world’s best CEOs as an investor and advisor.

Thrilled to have @satyanadella join us in our mission to make financial services accessible in India.

— Lalit Keshre (@lkeshre) January 8, 2022

The development came two months after Groww doubled its valuation to $3 Bn after raising $251 Mn. The fresh round of investment was led by ICONIQ Growth, in participation with Alkeon, Lone Pine Capital, Steadfast and Groww’s existing investors Sequoia Capital, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity, Tiger Global, and Propel Venture Partners.

The startup intended to utilse the capital to expand its reach to the under-penetrated geographies in the country, strengthen the team, scale tech infrastructure and add more financial products and services to its platform.

The Bengaluru-based startup was one among the six Indian ventures that went to achieve unicorn status in the second week of April. This was Groww’s second round of investment in 2021.

Then it had raised $83 Mn in its Series D round led by Tiger Global at a valuation of a billion dollars. The round saw participation from existing backers Sequoia India, Ribbit Capital, YC Continuity and Propel Venture Partners.

Founded by four ex Flipsters (also known as ex Flipkart employees) Keshre, Harsh Jain, Neeraj Singh, and Ishan Bansal in 2016, Groww offers direct plans for mutual funds and investing via mobile application and web platform. It also allows users to invest in stocks, mutual funds, ETFs, IPOs, and gold.

The startup at present directly competes against the likes of bootstrapped-turned unicorn Zerodha, soon-to-be turned unicorn Upstox, Delhi-based INDMoney, among others.

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