OneAssist Raises More Than $7.5 Mn From Sequoia & Lightspeed Venture

Mumbai-based OneAssist, a startup that offers customers credit card and smartphone protection in case of loss or theft has raised about $7.72 Mn (INR 50 Cr.) in Series B round of funding from insurance services provider Assurant Inc.; first investment in India.

Existing investors Sequoia Capital India and Lightspeed Venture Partners also invested in this round. OneAssist had previously raised 3.5 Mn (INR 20 Cr.) in June 2012.

The company will use the funds in team expansion, and to target the 300 Mn debit and credit card holders and 150 Mn smartphone users in India.

Founded in 2011 by Gagan Maini and Subrat Pani, OneAssist stores information of registered consumers and blocks all transactions on their lost cards and phones. In case of loss or theft, OneAssist can hold transactions upto seven days in order to prevent misuse of the card.

The company which has 4 products, WalletAssist, MobileAssist, EverydayAssist and TripAssist are claiming to have subscriber base of 200,000; and is witnessing 3 times growth.

Last quarter, an estimated 20 Mn units were sold in the country.

In its smartphones assist plan, the company offers services such as blocking SIM cards and doorstep pickup & delivery, in case of repairs to temporary replacement of handsets and insurance services.

For debit or credit cards, besides blocking them and providing cover against fraud, it also settles hotel bills and flight expenses if a member loses his/her wallet or purse while travelling.

To expand and distribute its products in the market, OneAssist has tied up with lenders like Kotak Mahindra, IndusInd, HDFC Bank, ICICI Bank and Axis and even smartphone makers like Micromax and Samsung.

OneAssist’s mobile phone plans cost between INR 700 & INR 4,500 per year. And, charges for bank card plans is from INR 1,299 to INR 1,799.

Maini said the company also sees an opportunity in the online retail space – reported ET.

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