Kristal Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which operates asset management platform Kristal.AI, has raised $6 million (approximately Rs 42.61 crore at current exchange rates) in its Series A funding round.
The company raised the capital from Chiratae Ventures and Desai Family Office, Inc42 reported. The latest transaction takes the total funding raised by Kristal.AI to $11 million.
Asheesh Chanda, co-founder at Kristal.AI, said the firm will focus on scaling itself in parts of India and other Asia-Pacific regions, the report added. The startup is also focussed on differentiating its offerings and is currently in the process of developing and testing products for the enterprise sector, he added.
Kristal.AI was established in 2016 by Chanda and Vineeth Narasimhan. The startup provides investors and advisors with portfolios (Kristals) that are created and curated by financial experts. Each ‘Kristal’ is based on a theme and can include assets such as exchange-traded funds, stocks, bonds, options, and futures.
It currently has a presence in Mumbai and Bengaluru. It also caters to customers in Singapore, Hong Kong, and the United Arab Emirates.
VCCircle has reached out to Kristal.AI on the details of the investment and will update this report accordingly.
The firm says it currently has over $100 million in assets under management for more than 10,000 users across 22 countries.
Kristal.AI says its platform combines its advisory algorithm along with its investment committee to help customers create and fine-tune their portfolios based on their financial goals. It also offers alternative investment options such as commodities, hedge funds, and real estate investment trusts (REITs), according to its website.
In April 2018, it raised $1.85 million (about Rs 12 crore) in a seed round of funding that was led by Chiratae (then known as IDG Ventures India). Angel investors Shailesh Rao, senior adviser at TPG and McKinsey; and Amit Gupta, founding partner at Newquest Capital, also took part in that round.
Deals in the digital wealth management and investment segment
The wealth management platform and investment space are part of the larger and growing financial technology sector in India. Companies in this vertical are seeking to introduce larger numbers of people to a traditional and alternative portfolio strategies. At the same time, they are also applying new-age technologies to differentiate their investment products.
In September last year, the US-based Tiger Global Management invested $25 million (around Rs 177.42 crore) in online stock brokerage Upstox, which provides investment products and tools and trades.
Prior to that, in August, Tiger Global also invested $15 million (around Rs 107.88 crore) in INDwealth, an artificial intelligence-based wealth management venture established by Ibibo founder Ashish Kashyap.
In July, incubation and accelerator platform Venture Catalysts invested an undisclosed sum of money in Vested, an investment platform enabling Indian investors to invest in the US stock market.
