Mutual Fund Startup Scripbox Raises $21.4 Mn Series C Funding Led By Accel Partners

Scripbox simplifies mutual fund investment for salaried professionals by eliminating the confusion created by varied information and vague investment advice. The selection of funds is done by a quantitative plus qualitative algorithm to help eliminate selection biases. The platform also accepts Unified Payments Interface (UPI)-based mode of payments from consumers for making investments.

According to a report, Scripbox has around 2 Mn investments, and manages over $127.8 Mn (INR 900 Cr) worth assets, with investments from over 1,200 locations in the country. Offering similar mutual funds-related services, there are startups such as Bengaluru-based Wealthy, Zerodha, among others.

Online mutual fund investing have become a lucrative segment for major fintech players in the country. For instance, last year in September, Times Internet-backed ETMoney shifted gears from offering regular mutual funds to direct mutual fund plans — an alternative to low-cost regular plans that eliminates the expense of distributor commissions.

This development was made after digital payments giant Paytm launched a mutual funds platform, Paytm Money that also sells mutual funds directly to consumers.

Over the years, India’s fintech sector has seen massive growth. In terms of funding, the sector attracted an investment of $1.2 Bn in 2018, across 116 funding deals as on December 12, 2018, according to Inc42 Data Labs.

Meanwhile, India’s digital transaction value is expected to reach $73 Bn by 2020, and its growth in India is largely attributed to the thriving penetration of smartphones — estimated to reach 14 Mn units by that year.