Snapmint Raises $9 Million To Power Dreams Of Millions Of Shoppers Across India Funds will be utilized to expand the network of merchants, launch a suite of innovative BNPL products and power the purchases of over 450 million consumers in India
By Saptak Bardhan •
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Mumbai-based fintech startup, Snapmint, on Tuesday announced to have raised $9 million in Series A funding from marquee investors and industry leaders led by Prashasta Seth, CEO and CIO, Prudent Investment Managers. The round also saw participation of 9Unicorns, Anicut Capital, Negen Capital, Livspace founder Ramakant Sharma and Usama Fayyad (chairman of Open Insights and head of Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University), among other angel investors. Funds will be utilized to expand the network of merchants, launch a suite of innovative BNPL products and power the purchases of over 450 million consumers in India.
"We are excited to partner with marquee investors and industry leaders in our growth journey. This investment will boost our expansion plans as we look to grow our merchant partners 50 times pan-India and bring a unique shopping experience to our customers. Our transaction-led underwriting models allow us to democratize access to credit, provide fair financial terms and give the freedom of choice to our consumers," said Nalin Agrawal, co-founder, Snapmint.
The $810 billion Indian retail market is the fourth largest in the world, and affordable credit options will continue to boost the growth of this market. A 2021 report by Bain and Co. shows that 80 per cent of the growth in new e-retail customers came from tier-II/ smaller towns in India, said the company in a statement.
"We are truly impressed by the team's ability to underwrite young customers from small towns instantly and seamlessly, which shows in the portfolio quality. This differentiates them from a vast majority of the other players in the space," said Prashasta Seth, CEO and CIO, Prudent Investment Managers.
Found by IIT batchmates and serial entrepreneurs Nalin Agrawal, Anil Gelra, Abhineet Sawa and Rahul Agarwal in 2017, the startup is looking to democratize access to credit by allowing these customers to buy on interest free installments, with no hidden costs. For online merchants, Snapmint's platform gives upto a 25 per cent boost to sales, opening up a brand-new segment of customers which were previously not shopping with them. A BNPL platform, it has over four million consumers on its platform, many of who are from tier II, and serves over 27,000 PIN codes across India. Snapmint was founded to give customers the option of paying using convenient installments, thus letting them manage their monthly cash flows without burning a hole in their pocket.
