Rise Co-Founders Padmini Gupta And Milind Singh On How Their New App, Xare, Aims To Shape The Future Of Fintech
"We hope Xare plays a pivotal role in helping shape a future world- a fairer financial world, a world which is more compassionate, and a world where more people are able to help each other out."
Founded in 2017 by Padmini Gupta and Milind Singh, Rise aims to democratize access to financial services, specifically for migrants worldwide. The fintech firm started by offering bank accounts, followed by insurance services, and lately, the Rise team introduced buy-now-pay-later services catered toward migrants. Gupta and Singh soon also saw the need for a better tool to manage cross-border spending, which led to the development of their newest app, Xare.
Launched in January 2021 with the goal of eradicating the need for traditional remittances, Xare has since seen itself being heavily used in emerging markets like Bangladesh, India, and the Philippines. The app is present in over 70 countries, with over half a million downloads, and it has found interest from investors too. According to Singh, they have recently "closed a fairly large round of funding, joined by current investors, and one of the largest financial institutions in the world."
The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has strengthened the co-founders' vision for Xare. "What COVID-19 has shown is the need for communities to help each other," Singh says. "A lot of centralized institutions, be it banks, governments, or healthcare providers, have really crumpled under the pressure of this onslaught. It has shown how resilient communities are when they come together to help and support each other. And when we think about Xare, about what we're building, it really is a community product."
Singh further elaborates that Xare is a product which allows communities to empower each other. "We are very optimistic of the world that is going to emerge out of this chaos," he says. "A world that is more driven by communities, rather than centralized institutions, and we hope that Xare plays a pivotal role in helping shape that future world- a fairer financial world, a world which is more compassionate, and a world where more people are able to help each other out."
Check out the rest of the video for more of the co-founders' insights!
Related: Rising To The Occasion: Dubai-Headquartered Startup Rise Is Shaking Up The Financial Services Sector
