slice Enters Unicorn Club After Raising $220 Mn From Tiger Global & Insight Partners

Bengaluru-based fintech startup slice is the new entrant to the country’s growing unicorn club. The startup, which offers credit cards to millennials, raised $220 Mn in its Series B round led by US-hedge fund Tiger Global and Insight Partners at a billion dollar valuation.

The round also saw investment from new investors such as Advent International’s Sunley House Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Anfa, Gunopsy among others. Its existing investors Blume Ventures and 8i also participated in the round. 

slice intends to utilise the investment to expand and strengthen its presence in the payments space, hire great talent, and expand its product offerings.

The investment comes almost four months after slice bagged $20 Mn in a fresh equity funding round led by Blume Ventures, and Gunopsy Capital. The startup in 2018 bagged its Series A led by Chinese lending company FinUp Finance Technology Group. Back then, Slice didn’t disclose the details of the deal. 

Founded in 2016 by Rajan Bajaj, slice (earlier Slicepay) is a fintech startup offering credit solutions targeting young consumers between the age of 18 and 29. The startup issues credit cards and payments cards to this segment in partnership with Visa and SBM Bank, allowing this cohort to build a good credit score, while also offering rewards and discounts from payments. The startup provides a credit line starting from INR 10,000 going up to INR 10 Lakh.

slice claims that it is growing at a stellar rate in the past few months and boasts a registered user base of over 5 Mn and a 40% month-on-month growth rate.

It further said that it ships over 200,000 credit cards each month. According to Bajaj, he is trying to address the gap of the Indian population with bank accounts but not opting for credit cards owing to low credit score or banks’ unnecessary requirements.

Bajaj pointed out that a majority of the Indian population have bank accounts but as per industry estimate only 35 Mn have access to credit cards.

“slice is addressing this gap through its Slice Super Card, a prepaid visa card with a credit line that allows hundreds of millions of Indians to enjoy credit card-like benefits as well as to build their credit score,” Bajaj said. 

To further increase its customer base and target its young customers, slice has now rolled out new credit cards with a limit of INR 2,000.

“slice targets an underpenetrated market in India and seamlessly allows users to make online payments, pay bills and more,” said Deven Parekh, managing director, Insight Partners. 

“There is a large opportunity in the credit and payment space in India, and Slice is well-positioned to become the leader in the industry. We look forward to this partnership with slice as they continue to scale up and grow.”

The startup also offers 2% cashback on each transaction. It competes against the likes of Karbon Card, Kodo, uni among others. 

Another fintech giant Razorpay is also gearing up to enter the credit card industry.