Fintech startup Kissht has raised $80 million in a funding round led by Vertex Growth and Brunei Investment Agency as the Mumbai-based company looks to enhance its product offerings.
Existing investors Vertex Ventures SEA and India and Endiya Partners also participated in the current round, Kissht said in a statement on June 8. The company said it will foray into credit-backed cards.
Kissht also launched a millennial-focused, fully digital credit and payments app called Ring. Kissht said it aims to make Ring a brand that appeals to young, aspirational millennials who have a credit card penetration of 2 percent.
Founded in 2015 by Ranvir Singh and Krishnan Vishwanathan, Kissht said it plans to build a loyalty offering in line with the evolving needs of the new-to-credit and lower-income population of India. The focus will be on driving higher stickiness by offering rewards on the most relevant spend categories like grocery, travel, lifestyle, and so on, Kissht said.
“There are over 150 mn people, of which the majority are young millennials, who are either underserved or un-served on transaction credit… We are offering a one-stop credit and payment solution, which can be used any and everywhere and change the way people use credit. We are excited to partner with VGF and BIA (expand). The majority of the capital will go into further strengthening our product offerings.” said Singh who is also the CEO at Kissht.
Kissht said with Ring, it is looking to solve the void created by lack of point of sale (POS) infrastructure in non-top tier merchants and an inability of banks to service customers, given higher costs of acquisition and inferior risk understanding. With the fresh funds, the company said it will be able to build product offerings for solving these issues by providing 10 million cards over the next 12 to 18 months.
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Vishwanathan, who is also an Executive Director at Kissht, said, "The convenience and seamless experience that the product will provide will be one of a kind in the industry. We are excited for the next phase of growth where we focus not only on customer acquisition but also on offering a hassle-free experience and increasing customer delight in every transaction that they make using our platform."
Using Ring, customers can pay for e-commerce transactions, pay to merchants, pay to themselves, pay to friends and can avail a line of credit for up to Rs 30,000, paying for all expenses in one billing cycle at 0 percent interest, Kissht said. This marks Kissht's entry into the BNPL (Buy Now, Pay Later) cards segment.
James Lee, Managing Partner at Vertex Growth said, “The founders of Kissht have a unique understanding of the needs of the new to credit population of India. The multiservice credit and payments offering will revolutionise the way millennials and other new borrowers use and think about credit. We are excited to join this passionate and driven team to deliver credit solutions for the new generation.”
Earlier, in January 2022, the startup had raised $13.2 million in funding led by Trifecta Capital and Northern Arc. According to Crunchbase, the startup has so far raised more than $142.5 million in funding.
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