Wealth Bucket Capital Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which operates mutual fund investments-focussed startup WealthBucket, has raised Rs 18 crore ($2.52 million at current exchange rates) in a pre-Series A funding round.
WealthBucket will use the money to increase its employee strength to more than 100, as well as expanding its operations across the country, the company said in a statement.
It will also use the funds to enhance its technological infrastructure with a view to simplifying the know-your-customer and investment processes.
“Our idea is to provide a model where the investor can choose through a multitude of investment options. Our experts create low-commission portfolios for retail investors and will strive to make investment a hassle-free experience,” co-founder Himanshu Jain said.
Delhi-based WealthBucket provides users with options to invest in a variety of mutual funds through both systematic investment plans and lump sum investments. It claims to have had over three lakh visitors to its platform, and that its platform has helped in generating Rs 150 crore worth of investments.
The company said that it raised the funding from North Star Enterprises (SL) Ltd, a Sierra Leone-based firm that specialises in advising multinational companies seeking to invest in the West African country. It also raised the capital from Vinod Khatumal, an angel investor, and other high-net-worth individual investors as well.
WealthBucket said it will leverage its employee and agent network to introduce mutual fund investments to clients in Tier-II and Tier-III cities. Applications and investments are free of cost and customers do not require a dematerialisation account for either.
The company was co-founded by Himanshu Jain and Pulkit Jain last year. Himanshu is an alumnus of the Indian School of Business-Hyderabad and has worked with institutions such as McKinsey; Pulkit is a chartered accountant. The two have also co-founded LegalRaasta, a business, tax and financial services platform.
Other players in the online investments segment include Groww, which raised $21.4 million (around Rs 152.5 crore) in a Series B funding round led by Silicon Valley-based venture capital firm Ribbit Capital in September. That month, US-based Tiger Global Management invested $25 million (around Rs 177.42 crore) in online stock brokerage Upstox.