Cross-border fintech platform Swadesh Digital Pvt. Ltd on Thursday said it has secured a pre-seed funding of $2.25 million (around Rs 17.55 crore) from Y Combinator, Khosla Ventures, 8VC and Section 32.
The San Francisco and New Delhi-headquartered company plans to use the fresh capital to onboard more customers and boost product suite of NRI-focused financial products.
Founded by Prateek Swain in 2019, Swadesh allows Indian students and expats headed to the US to set up secure banking infrastructure and initiate cross-border transfers and transactions ahead of time.
“Availability of funds is essential during relocation and Swadesh is the only option that removes chance from the equation and provides a permanent banking solution that caters to the Indian diaspora.
Barriers to access for Indians banking in the US include a lack of financial history and antecedents in the country, unfamiliarity with banking and taxation codes especially in terms of visa or immigration status. Through Swadesh, we aim to sidestep these barriers to provide banking and support,” said Swain.
Swadesh said a statement that it has secured multiple banking partnerships in both US and India to facilitate innovation and provide Indians equitable access to the American banking system.
Y Combinator is a startup accelerator which provides seed funding for startups. Recently, it has invested in real estate investment startup PropReturns, edtech startup AntWalk, healthtech startup Orange Health and fintech startup BharatX.
The investment in Swadesh underlines the fact that the cross-border fintech companies have started garnering attention from a host of investors.
Last month, Bengaluru-based cross-border payments startup PayGlocal has raised Series B funding of $12 million co-led by Tiger Global and Sequoia Capital India.
Similarly, in the same month, Moshpit Technologies which operates business-to-business (B2B) credit infra-focused fintech startup, FinBox, raised $15 million in a round led by A91 Partners.