Save-now-buy-later platform, Tortoise has raised an undisclosed amount of funding from Swiggy’s co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Sriharsha Majety and ZestMoney’s co-founder and CEO Lizzie Chapman, in an extension of the seed funding round.
The fintech startup had raised around $2.3 million in the first leg of its seed round from Vertex Ventures, a part of global investment firm Temasek.
Majety and Chapman coming as investors in the company will strategize a faster growth plan, the company said in a release.
Notably, former vice president at ZestMoney, Nikhil Joy has also recently joined the startup as a co-founder.
“This round is our mentors round, where we are raising angel cheques from Lizzie and Sriharsha and we expect a few more such visionaries to join in. We are well capitalized from our seed round and hence this is less about the investment and more about access to these leaders,” said Vardhan Koshal, co-founder of Tortoise.
Founded in 2020 by Koshal and Surya Harsha Nunnaguppala, Tortoise incentivizes consumers to save up for their purchases. The startup lets users save for large purchases and offers them rewards in form of cashbacks.
The Bengaluru-based startup provides weekly and monthly savings plans ranging from a few months to a year. Investors can choose weekly, monthly or yearly plans to save for their future investments. The scheme is inspired by Tanishq’s Golden Harvest Scheme, the company said.
On the other hand, the startup has partnerships with brands and merchants. It claims that the platform helps brands boost sales and improve repeat purchases.
“Consumerism in India is on the rise and so is the aspiration among consumers to upgrade their lifestyles. However, not all consumers want to or have the capability to pay upfront for large ticket purchases. Besides this, over 93% of Indians do not have access to formal credit. In such scenarios, SNBL is the best alternative,” said Koshal.
