Mumbai-based companies OTO Capital and First Principle Labs Technologies on Thursday joined the growing list of fintech startups that have attracted venture capital investors.
OTO Capital raised Rs 10 crore ($1.4 million) from Prime Venture Partners while First Principle mopped up Rs 32 crore ($4.5 million) in its maiden external funding round from Matrix Partners, Sequoia Capital and some angel investors
Automotive leasing venture OTO, run by 1T9 Technology Pvt. Ltd, plans to use the funds to expand to more cities and strengthen its technology infrastructure, it said in a statement.
The startup was founded by IIT-Mumbai alumnus Sumit Chhazed and Harsh Saruparia. It had raised seed funding from Venture Catalysts late last year.
OTO ties up with banks and non-bank lenders to offer customers a leasing option for automotive purchases. The startup began operations in October last year and claims to have leased cars worth Rs 10 crores so far.
Bengaluru-based Prime Venture Partners primarily invests in fintech and software-as-a-service startups. It hit the final close of its third fund at Rs 400 crore last year.
Meanwhile, First Principle Labs said in a separate statement that it will use the fresh capital raised from Matrix and Sequoia to build its team, ramp up its technology platform and acquire users.
Matrix and Sequoia are among the most active VC investors in India.
The startup, operated by FPL Technologies Pvt. Ltd, was founded earlier this year by former ICICI Bank executives Anurag Sinha, Rupesh Kumar and Vibhav Hathi.
The company’s first product was mobile app Onescore, which helps users check their credit score. It plans to launch a mobile credit card.
OTO Capital and First Principle Labs join a bunch of fintech ventures that have raised funding in recent months.
On Wednesday, digital banking startup Yelo raised seed funding in a round led by Matrix Partners while supply chain finance startup Cashflo secured $3.3 million in its Series A round of funding from SAIF Partners.
In one of the biggest funding rounds for a fintech venture this year, FreeCharge founder Kunal Shah’s Cred raised $120 million (Rs 862 crore) last week.
Also last week, digital payments firm BharatPe, which services offline retailers and businesses, raised $50 million in its Series B funding round led by Ribbit Capital and London-based hedge fund Steadview Capital.
Bengaluru-based digital banking startup NiYO Solutions raised $35 million in a Series B round from investors including Chinese conglomerate Tencent in July.
In June, Tiger Global led a Rs 210 crore Series B funding round in Bengaluru-based Open, which provides collection and payout automation services for small businesses.
