Indian startup Navi Technologies, a company that aims to make financial services simple, affordable, and more accessible, has become one of the leading Fintech lending applications in the country in just a few months after its launch, according to Sachin Bansal, the company’s co-founder.
Bansal, whose comments came during a session of the Global Fintech Fest (held on July 23, 2020), had been discussing the Fintech firm’s progress with Sequoia Capital Managing Director Rajan Anandan.
Bansal co-founded Navi Technologies with Ankit Agarwal, who graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT-Delhi) along with Bansal, who’s notably a billionaire Indian entrepreneur and maintains investments in several non-banking financial companies such as CRIDS, Altico Capital, U Gro Capital, and IndoStar Capital.
The company’s management confirmed that they’re planning to scale Navi’s operations, in order to make it a full-fledged financial services platform that will be offering affordable loans, insurance packages, and the opportunity to invest in mutual funds. However, Bansal said that he’s not really interested in digital payments for now, but would consider exploring strategic partnerships with existing service providers.
Bansal, who’s also the co-founder of Flipkart, had announced the launch of the Fintech lending application in June 2020. He claims that Navi has been consistently offering credit to many different entities across India.
He’s confident that the firm’s credit appraisal process works effectively and believes that Navi will be able to firmly establish its presence in India’s lending sector. Navi provides unsecured personal loans of up to Rs 5 lakh (appr. $6,700) for a two-year period.
Bansal reportedly exited Flipkart, one of India’s largest digital commerce platforms, back in 2018. Since then, he’s been focused on establishing Navi Technologies. Bansal has been able to acquire a non-banking finance company (NBFC) for the Fintech firm, which now operates a microfinance business, and also offers various insurance services. Navi has acquired Essel Mutual Fund, in order to provide diversified investment options to its clients.
As first reported by MoneyControl, Navi focuses on the middle income group in India, as it plans to provide digital lending services to them. Bansal claims that the incumbents haven’t been able to provide a customer-friendly experience to middle income Indian consumers because it can be costly to serve these clients. Navi aims to serve this market by simplifying and reducing the cost of operations – which the company believes can be achieved if it maintains an all-digital service.
In April 2020, Navi Technologies secured INR 2.04 billion (appr. $26.75 million) in equity funding from Gaja Capital, a Mumbai-based private equity company.