Learn How to Invest Beyond Stocks, FDs, Property And Gold Alternate investment platform Jiraaf's current offerings include corporate debt, invoice discounting, real estate-linked debt, leasing and venture debt/revenue-based financing
By Soumya Duggal •
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Are you looking to participate in high-quality investment opportunities that go beyond equities, fixed deposits, real estate and gold? Last year, finance professionals Saurav Ghosh and Vineet Agrawal set out on a journey to democratize the investments sector and create an attractive fixed-income asset class accessible to retail individual investors. Thus, Jiraaf—an attempt to figuratively and literally stand tall in the industry—was born!
Having been in the investments space for over a decade, the duo previously ran a services and consulting firm wherein they structured transactions and arranged capital for companies within a small network of HNIs. "This is the moment we realized that such curated opportunities are accessible only to HNIs today while all of these are really great products for any individual's financial portfolio," said Agrawal, co-founder, Jiraaf.
Jiraaf's current offerings include corporate debt (rated and unrated), invoice discounting, real estate linked debt, leasing, and venture debt/revenue-based financing. The company recently raised $7.5 million in a Series A round led by Accel Partners and other angel investors.
Most of the company's consumers are thirty-something-year-old salaried men and women who reside in metro cities and earn an annual salary of over INR 20 lakh. "However, having said that, we have lot of investors in the HNI/UHNI category as well and from business backgrounds too. We are seeing second generation from business families keenly investing in financials products," said Agrawal.
The alternate investment space for retail investors is at a very nascent stage today. The Jiraaf founders have seen the journey of public equities and mutual funds in India and believe that it takes almost a decade for any new financial product to really become mainstream. "As more investors, financial advisors and wealth managers get exposed to these products, we expect to see an exponential growth over the next few years," said Agrawal.
Financial services have always been a very fiercely competitive space and the investments sector is no different. What, then, sets Jiraaf apart from its rivals? "We are the first horizontal platform that offers everything under a single roof for retail investors," he claimed, adding, "We have a wide variety of product offerings in the fixed income space and every investor will find something as per their own financial goals and risk appetite at Jiraaf. We have a very strong team with entire leadership team coming with decades of experience in the investment's space."
Agrawal believes that Jiraaf's focus on maintaining credit quality and zero tolerance towards regulatory compliances will hold it in good stead in the future.
