Fintech startup MoneyTap raises USD 12.3 million from Sequoia India
MoneyTap
Founders: Bala Parthasarathy, Anuj Kacker and Kunal Varma
Founded in: 2015
Financing status: USD 12.3 million Series A round in 2017
Bengaluru-based consumer lending startup MoneyTap has received about USD 12.3 million for its Series A financing round led by Sequoia India. Existing investors New Enterprise Associates and Prime Venture Partners also participated in this round.
MoneyTap was founded in 2015 by Bala Parthasarathy, Anuj Kacker, and Kunal Varma. MoneyTap is an app based personal credit loan service provider. Offered in partnership with leading banks, it is not just a personal loan or a credit card, but it is a personal credit line. The company provides flexible loan for personal use with flexible interest rates offering services in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and Chennai.
MoneyTap claims that users can transfer money to their bank accounts or swipe their MoneyTap credit card. Interest will only be charged on transfer or EMI conversion. The remaining limit is available to the user at no cost. It is very flexible for users to draw out as little as INR 3,000 (USD 46.56) or as much as the user’s approved limit.
The company will use this newly raised investment to expand its consumer credit line in India. This will help strengthen its leadership position by improving credit accessibility for other customer segments.
Mega e-commerce app Goodbox raises USD 1 million from Nexus and Mekin Maheshwari
Goodbox
Founders: Abey Zachariah, Mayank Bidawatka, Nithin Chandra, Mohit Maheshwari, Anand Kelaginamani, Charan Shetty, and Mahesh Herle.
Founded in: 2014
Financing status: USD 1 million Series B round in 2017
App based e-commerce platform Goodbox raised about USD 1 million led by existing investor Nexus Venture Partners. Mekin Maheshwari, founder of Udhyam.org and former chief people officer at e-commerce firm Flipkart, also participated as an investor in this financing round. The startup wants to use the investment to ramp up its technology infrastructure and expand operations across India.
Based in Bangalore, Goodbox was founded in 2014. The company offers small and medium-sized businesses an e-commerce platform. Goodbox allows businesses to create an app for themselves on its platform. Also, customers can directly interact with the store and do transactions on the platform. Goodbox acts like a mega app where users can see mini apps of several businesses in it. Loyalty and reward points are gained by the customers to encourage them to keep using the platform.
The startup provides features including customized mobile platforms, customer databases, product catalogues, and online payment facilities. The merchants will pay an annual maintenance fee to Goodbox.
Goodbox provides the maintenance of mini apps for businesses at low costs, and offers easy ways to let businesses create their own mini apps on the platform. As reported in Forbes India, Goodbox has already more than 10,000 businesses on its platform covering restaurants, laundry chains, rental providers, movers, packers, salons, and so on.
The mega app aims to be the largest e-commerce network built through businesses which in turn have their own customers use the platform.
