Mumbai-based early stage venture capital Fund houseĀ UnicornĀ IndiaĀ VenturesĀ has announced second investment from Rs 400 crore Fund II in a Hyderabad based Fintech/BlockchainĀ startupĀ ChitMonks. The Company has raised $ 6,50,000 in a pre-series A round from UIV.
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ChitMonksĀ has developed aĀ Blockchain-based product empowering the state government regulators to administer Chit fund operations across the state on a private permissionedĀ BlockchainĀ network. They are extending their services to Chit fund companies of any size and anywhere inĀ India,by digitally enabling them with process efficiency (payment collections, online auctions, eKYC, eSign etc), better underwriting (bank statement analysis, credit profiling, credit liabilities) and making their offerings more inclusive.
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Bhaskar Majumdar, Managing Partner,Ā UnicornĀ IndiaĀ Ventures, says, āEven before the current Covid 19 scenario, we saw the potential inĀ ChitMonksĀ to revolutionize the current antiquated system of the chit fund industry by bringing the whole ecosystem online. It is in-line with our philosophy of investing in businesses which can digitize current processes and make them more transparent and accessible.ā
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Chit Fund as an asset class has been serving millions of subscribers since ages long before banking expanded to its current state. But as a sector, chit funds and their companies donāt enjoy goodwill from govts, new generation customers and other stakeholders. According toĀ ChitMonksā research there are about 30,000 registered chit fund companies inĀ India, which are operating registered Chit fund business with approximatelyRs1,50,000 crore AUM (Asset Under Management).
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Pavan Adipuram, Co-founder, CEOĀ ChitMonks, says, āOur team comes from a strong finance and tech background hence fintech as a space was a natural choice. Based on our research in the fintech space, we believed that foundational technologies likeBlockchainfor fintech products were redefining the trust and transparency at a new dimension. We believed that such technologies can redefine chit funds and they can re-emerge as a bonafide sector where retail investors can invest and borrow money in a trustless manner.ā Getting backing fromĀ UnicornĀ IndiaĀ VenturesĀ lends credibility to our vision and proves that we are not the only one who thinks some old economy sectors need a new age shake up and a pinch of technology to usher them in the digital transformation world and beyond, he adds.
The funds raised will be used for product development, market expansion, strategic hiring and further investment in scaling up the current business.
