Uni, a fintech startup in stealth mode co-founded by former PayU India CEO Nitin Gupta, has raised $18.5 million (Rs 135 crore) in its seed funding round.
Uni aims to tap into the credit cards market in India and make them more accessible for consumers across different regions.
Gupta, who is also the startup’s CEO, said there is an opportunity to expand the market from 58 million credit cards in India currently to 200 million credit cards over the next five years.
Other co-founders of Uni are Prateek Jindal, who built OlaMoney Postpaid; and Laxmikant Vyas, who was the head of data science at Bajaj Finance Ltd.
Uni is not the only fintech startup in India to have raised a significant amount of funding from venture capital firms in its stealth mode.
Cred, floated by FreeCharge founder Kunal Shah, had raised $30 million in 2018 even before its formal launch in a funding round led by Sequoia Capital. RTP Global and Ribbit Capital had also invested at the time. Last year, Cred raised $120 million (Rs 862 crore) in a new funding round.
Fintech startup INDwealth, launched by travel booking firm Ibibo’s founder Ashish Kashyap, had also raised $30 million from Steadview Capital in its stealth mode in 2018.
Fintech startups have continued to attract investor interest across early and mid-stage levels despite the coronavirus pandemic.
Just last week, Smallcase Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a capital markets-focussed financial technology startup, secured $14 million in a Series B round. Last month, Vulcan Capital led seed funding in fintech startup Qapita.
In August, FPL Technologies Pvt. Ltd, founded by three former ICICI Bank executives last year, raised $10 million from new and existing investors in its Series A funding round.
In May, SME-focussed fintech startup Khatabook mobilised $60 million in its Series B funding round led by Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin's B Capital.
