Navi Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the financial services company set up by Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal, has raised funding from mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital and a number of individual investors.
Gaja Capital is investing around Rs 204 crore ($26.7 million) in Navi Technologies, regulatory filings show.
Former HDFC Bank deputy managing director Paresh Sukthankar and his wife, Sangeeta, are chipping in Rs 10 crore. Sukthankar had quit India’s largest private-sector bank in 2018.
A bunch of other high-net-worth individuals such as Ramesh Sundare, Sharad Sundarmony, Nitin Jagpratap and Sunil Edward are also investing. Overall, Navi is raising Rs 3,226 crore by allotting shares at Rs 140.5 apiece.
Bansal, who had set up Navi after selling his stake in Flipkart to Walmart Inc in 2018, is himself putting in Rs 2,928 crore while Navi co-founder Ankit Agarwal is investing almost Rs 40 crore.
The filings show that Bansal is investing Rs 253 crore in cash and Rs 2,675 crore via the transfer of his entire 94% stake in Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt. Ltd, which he acquired in September last year.
The latest capital infusion values Navi Technologies around Rs 4,260 crore ($558 million), as per VCCircle estimates. This is below the $660-million valuation Navi commanded when the Washington-based International Finance Corporation in January proposed to pick up a 4.5% stake in the company for Rs 210 crore ($30 million then).
For Gopal Jain-led Gaja Capital, the investment in Navi is its latest bet on a financial services company. The mid-market PE firm has previously invested in RBL Bank, investment banking firm Avendus Capital, non-bank lender Kinara Capital and Suryoday Small Finance Bank, its website shows.
Bansal and Jain didn’t respond to queries seeking details of the investments in Navi Technologies.
The investment in Navi highlights Bansal’s growing interest in the financial services segment. Since selling his stake in Flipkart, he has made several bets on startups and has also made acquisitions, as in the case of CRIDS.
In January this year, he resigned from the board of Ujjivan Small Finance Bank after a Chaitanya Rural unit sought a banking licence from the Reserve Bank of India. Earlier that month, International Finance Corporation said it would pick up a 4.5% stake in Navi Technologies for Rs 210 crore (around $30 million).
Bansal has also made significant debt and equity investments in companies such as Kissht, Lendingkart Finance Ltd and IndoStar Capital Finance. Separately, he also acquired Essel Mutual Fund and DHFL General Insurance Ltd from Wadhawan Global Capital. He had also invested Rs 650 crore in ride-hailing company Ola last year.
Other companies that Bansal has invested in include Ather Energy Pvt. Ltd, ADA News in Shorts Pvt. Ltd and U Gro Capital.
