Page 8 - Fintech Sector

Fintech Tide eyes a million MSMEs by 2025-end, launch new solutions

SME-focused business financial platform Tide looks to onboard 5 lakh MSMEs to reach 10 lakh members by December 2025 on the back of new AI-powered solutions, a top company official said on Thursday. Tide has crossed 5 lakh MSMEs (members) on its platform within two years after its market entry, Tide in India CEO Gurjodhpal Singh said in a statement. Our goal is to welcome another 500,000 small businesses to Tide by December 2025. To make this happen, we're expanding our range of financial tools using advanced technology to tackle the latest business challenges, Singh said. We're focusing on smarter AI-powered financial insights, stronger connections with India's growing digital payment systems, and new features to make managing finances and admin even easier, he added. Tide plans to offer new products like savings and investments, tailored insurance plans, easy access to formal credit, simplified Udyam registration, hassle-free GST filing and advanced payment acceptance solutions.

Fintech sector voices concerns amid regulatory fears in meeting with FinMin

The fintech sector has expressed its concerns about declining investments, particularly from abroad, as the narrative around this sector has become less positive

With new $650 mn war chest for India, Accel eyes AI, fintech startups

Global venture capital firm Accel on Monday announced that it has raised a USD 650 million early-stage fund to fuel the next generation of category defining startups in the focus sectors of artificial intelligence (AI), consumer, fintech and manufacturing. Accel is the first institutional investor in 80 per cent of its portfolio companies. Its prominent portfolio companies include BlackBuck, BlueStone, Cult.fit, Flipkart, Freshworks, Swiggy, Urban Company and Zetwerk. "Accel, a leading global venture capital firm, today announced that it has raised a USD 650 million early-stage fund dedicated to supporting bold founders in India and Southeast Asia," the company said in a release. Accel said its latest fund eighth in India and Southeast Asia -- builds on its commitment to partnering with early-stage founders to establish disruptive, category defining businesses that create meaningful impact. Sectors in focus for this fund include AI, consumer, fintech and manufacturing. On Accel's

OfBusiness plans to invest Rs 3000 cr in next 3 yrs to ramp up steel biz

OfBusiness, a b2b commerce and fintech startup, is looking to invest about Rs 3,000 crore into doubling its steel business to more than 4MTPA in the next three years. The company has acquired three steel firms -- SMW Ispat, Shree Sidhbali Ispat and Noble Steel -- in the past and the expansion is lined up in all the three companies. "We are looking forward to investing close to USD 350 million, about Rs 3,000 crore, to scale up our steel business from the current 2 million tonne to more than 4 million tonne in the next 3 years. This is also expected to sharply increase the sector EBITDA to 2.5x from the current level. The funding will be a combination of internal accruals and debt & equity financing," Co-Founder and CEO Asish Mohapatra said. The company supplies steel to companies such as L&T, Adani, J Kumar, Dilip Buildcon, Ashoka Buildcon. OfBusiness also plans to get into new categories such as pre-painted galvanised iron (PPGI) adding onto thermo-mechanically treated (TMT)

Credit-on-UPI fintech Kiwi rooted in upheavals in economy, co-founder says

Demonetisation and the pandemic drove India's digital transformation in financial services. Companies built unique use cases around UPI

Sebi mulls facilitating participation of retail investors in algo trading

Capital markets regulator Sebi on Friday proposed facilitating the participation of retail investors in algorithmic trading (algo trading), which provides advantages of faster order execution and improved liquidity. The proposal, if implemented, is expected to fill in the void for retail investors who want to trade using algos with adequate safeguards. In an effort to enhance market efficiency and transparency, Sebi introduced algo trading through the Direct Market Access (DMA) facility, which provided significant advantages such as faster order execution, reduced transaction costs, greater transparency, better audit trails and improved liquidity. However, access to these facilities has been limited to institutional investors. In its consultation paper on Friday, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) proposed extending the existing regulatory framework, with additional safeguards, to facilitate the participation of retail investors in algo trading. "The evolving natur

Fintechs go retro: Companies bet on fixed deposits to boost topline

Companies offer up to 9.5% interest rate per annum on fixed deposits

Paytm's wholly-owned Singapore unit approves stake sale in PayPay

The value of the deal is reportedly pegged at $250 million, although the company did not voluntarily disclose the deal size on the exchanges

PhonePe discontinues its partnership with payment aggregator Juspay

The move will allow the Walmart-backed fintech firm to offer an integrated payment flow-from transaction origination to final settlement-to the merchants it services

Fintech firm MODIFI targets to finance 500 SMEs in next 2-3 years

Amsterdam-headquartered fintech MODIFI on Tuesday said it aims to finance over 5,000 small and medium enterprises (SMEs) across India in the next two to three years. Having facilitated over USD 3 billion in global trade across over 1,800 trading partners in more than 55 countries since its inception, India remains pivotal to MODIFI's global expansion journey, a release said. The company, a global player in cross-border B2B trade finance and payments solutions, launched its India operations in 2019, making it the first international market outside Europe. In India, the release said, the company has provided trade financing to firms across key export sectors like renewables, automotive, chemicals, and textiles. "With our latest funding, we are doubling down on our India operations to meet the increasing demand for flexible, digital trade finance solutions," said Matthias Hendrichs, Chief Commercial Officer of MODIFI Global. With a 38 per cent year-on-year growth, the fintech said it

Regulation-first approach to drive success for fintechs: Paytm founder, CEO

He added that it is the responsibility of entities in the financial services domain to ensure the safety of users through measures involving customer education

CarDekho Group's net revenue increases 54% to Rs 2,074 crore in FY24

The Group delivered its first full-year standalone profitability, with a profit of approximately Rs 37 crore (before exceptional items), a turnaround from a loss of Rs 143 crore in FY23

FACE's ambitious goal: Uniting 75% of fintech players in three years

One of the major focus areas for the SRO-FT includes improving communication among members regarding compliance and regulation

Unauthorised fintechs, compliance changes pose major risks for sector

Organisations assess other challenges, such as talent, transparency, and grievance redressal, as negligible risks in their operations

Cedar-IBSi Capital plans to fund 10-15 startups in fintech sector

Cedar-IBSi Capital on Saturday said it is looking to invest in 10-15 startups working in the banking and insurance technology segment to expand its footprint in the country. "The fund plans to build a portfolio of the companies, allocating a budget within the range of Rs 4-10 crore, with an intensified focus on financially strengthening 8 to 10 high-performing companies," it said. The fund has already gathered commitments in the range of Rs 50-75 crore from its Rs 240 crore early-stage fund launched in 2023, it added. "We are focusing on investing in startups which offer unique products and innovative tech to help improve efficiency at financial institutions. We have made our first investment in Cogniquest, an intelligent document processing tech company and are looking forward to announcing our second investment shortly," Sahil Anand, Founder and Managing Partner, Cedar-IBSi Capital, said. The business-to-consumer disruption has taken place in the last 5-8 years, but the software

Nation at forefront of digital revolution, fintech speeding payments: RBI

India is at the forefront of the digital revolution and financial technology is speeding up digital payments, Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Michael Debabrata Patra said on Wednesday. Vibrant e-markets are springing up and expanding their reach. It is estimated that the digital economy currently accounts for a tenth of India's GDP, he said, adding that going by growth rates observed over the past decade, it is poised to constitute a fifth of GDP by 2026. In his inaugural address at the DEPR Conference on 'Digital Technology, Productivity and Economic Growth in India' here, Patra also said India is uniquely positioned to unlock new growth avenues and optimise existing ones with its digital public infrastructure (DPI), a vibrant information technology sector and a burgeoning youth population, including one of the largest AI talent bases. On digitalisation of Indian finance, Patra said micro-level evidence from surveys of Indian banks shows that while all of them have implemented mobile

A litmus test for fintech IPOs as MobiKwik inches closer to listing

After Paytm's disappointing performance after listing in 2021, the markets have evolved and the fintech ecosystem has matured with greater regulatory clarity from the RBI

Razorpay launches venture investment programme in partnership with VCs

Early-stage ventures could see potential fundraising of up to $1 million as part of the programme

ULI will be for lending what UPI is for payments: RBI Dy Guv at BFSI Summit

BS BFSI Summit: RBI is actively working to link UPI with other countries, aiming for global acceptance that would allow Indians abroad to make payments using UPI, said RBI Deputy Governor

Paytm hits highest level in calendar year 2024; zooms 169% in 6 months

Analysts believe Paytm's cost optimization measures and gradual business turnaround will put it on an early path to profitability.