~Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Stellaris also participated in the funding round~
~Certified by NPCI, Kiwi will partner with leading banks to issue instant digital RuPay credit cards~
Bengaluru, November 21, 2023: Kiwi, one of India’s leading FinTech companies that is transforming the credit card landscape in India, has raised $13 million (Rs. 108 Crore) in a Series-A funding round led by Omidyar Network India. Existing investors, Nexus Venture Partners and Stellaris Venture Partners also participated in this round. This funding will enable Kiwi to further expand its ‘credit cards on UPI’ offerings in India.
Founded in November 2022, Kiwi is the first fintech company in India to launch “credit cards with UPI” by issuing digital RuPay Cards in collaboration with banks. Its cutting-edge mobile application provides users with the ability to make secure payments using either a credit card or a bank account directly through their phones. Certified by the NPCI as a licensed UPI third party app (‘TPAP’), Kiwi had previously secured $6 million in funding from prominent investors, including Nexus Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, and a group of angel investors.
Kiwi is co-founded by senior fintech experts and banking industry veterans, Siddharth Mehta (ex-CEO, Freecharge), Mohit Bedi (ex-Axis Bank and PayU), and Anup Agrawal (ex-business head, LazyPay). Currently, Kiwi has issued 25,000 credit cards and aims to on-board 5 lakh customers by end of 2024. It has partnered with Axis Bank and plans to collaborate with two large banks in the next six months.
Kiwi believes that leveraging credit as a key attraction will drive customer acquisition, particularly with the vast user base of nearly 300 million UPI users, out of which only 40 million are deemed credit-worthy by banks based on traditional underwriting criteria. Kiwi is on a mission to expand the current underserved credit-worthy customers in India. The number of unique UPI users is 8-10 times the number of existing credit card users in India, and the acceptance points for ‘Credit on UPI’ are estimated to be 35X larger than regular credit card acceptance points. This presents significant growth potential for Kiwi.
On the fund raise, Anup Agrawal, co-founder and CEO of Kiwi, said, “We have been big believers in UPI Credit Card from the start and seeing it take shape is amazing. We started a few months back and looking at the positive response we have received in the last six months of our existence, this fresh round of financing comes at a critical juncture in our business. The funds will enable us to further develop our services and offer innovative products to our customers as we enter the next phase of product development and growth. With this funding round, we are excited to welcome our new investor, Omidyar Network India onboard and humbled to have the confidence and trust of our existing investors Nexus and Stellaris in our business.”
Treasa Mathew, Director, Omidyar Network India said, “Increasing access to affordable and convenient financial products beyond digital payments and ensuring deeper and more consistent usage of formal credit is the critical next step in advancing the financial inclusion journey of India’s Next Half Billion. We are thrilled to lead this investment in Kiwi, a pioneering fintech company with a clear vision for the future of transactional credit in India. We believe in the transformative power of Kiwi’s solutions and are excited to back the team as they continue to innovate and expand their footprint. We look forward to a successful partnership and supporting the continued growth of Kiwi in the dynamic Indian fintech landscape.”
