NE BUSINESS BUREAU
BENGALURU, OCT 12
Jiraaf a start-up offering fixed-income investments owned by AI Growth Pvt Ltd, has raised $8.7 million in a series B round of funding from investors. Current investors Accel and Harmony Partners took the lead in the funding round. Other participants included a number of angel investors as well as the domestic early-stage seed firm Capital A.
We are extremely glad to share that Jiraaf has secured $8.7 million as part of our Series B equity funding round. This round was co-led by @Accel and Harmony Partners, with participation from @CapitalA_vc and other angel investors. #Jiraaf #Funding pic.twitter.com/r1MQqWL0XD
— Jiraaf (@Jiraaf_Official) October 12, 2023
- It manages a platform that enables retail investors to purchase corporate debt issuances and earn yields of about 12.5% on average
- With over 1.5 lakh registered customers, including some active investors, the startup has already invested almost Rs 2,400 crore on the site
- It plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore in the coming two years. Its monthly disbursal run rate is currently Rs 200 crore, but it hopes to increase to 500 crore in the upcoming 12 months
Approximately $16 million has been raised by Jiraaf since its launch in September 2021. The business chose to cap its series B financing at less than $9 million in light of the difficult funding environment.
Saurav Ghosh, Co-Founder at Jiraaf, said: “We are thrilled and humbled by the trust from our customers, investors and partners. Over the last 2 years, our endeavour has been to enable investors to deepen their fixed income portfolio by curating high quality opportunities and making them easily accessible. We have been able to build a robust tech platform that allows seamless transaction and portfolio tracking, making Jiraaf the first port of call for anything fixed income. We are fortunate to have customers building their credit portfolio on Jiraaf by transacting more than 10 times in the first 6 months and expanding their portfolio. The fund infusion will support our commitment towards bringing high quality fixed income instruments in a transparent and convenient manner.”
Barath Shankar Subramanian, Partner at Accel, said: “We believe Jiraaf is a category leading company in alternative investments in India. Cumulative household savings in India are at INR 13.75 lakh crores with immense potential for allocation to credible fixed income products. Mutual funds and robust equity markets have given Indian savers a good foundation for financial products. High quality fixed income products would fulfil an important gap in an investor’s portfolio. Jiraaf is transforming the investment landscape by making alternative fixed income accessible through a simple and transparent platform.”
Mark Lotke, Harmony, remarked: “We are delighted to participate with Vineet and Saurav in growing Jiraaf. Private credit is witnessing growth across the world and India has significant potential given the size of the mid-market economy. Jiraaf as a platform can provide two-way benefits of supporting growing companies through credit and ensuring investors are able to participate to make their portfolio more robust.”
Vineet Agrawal, Co-Founder at Jiraaf, said: “We look forward to using the funding to expand our teams across tech, investment, and customer care. In the next 24 months, our aim is to reach more than 300,000 users, enable INR 10,000 crores of investment. We aim to widen our offerings enabling better diversification and choices for our customers. A key for growing our business is to not just curate high quality investment opportunities but also provide more insightful information to our customers about different ways of creating generational wealth.”
Elluminate Capital acted as an exclusive advisor to Jiraaf on the transaction. Prior to this, Jiraaf had raised $7.5mn led by Accel as Series A in April 2022. The round saw participation from Mankekar family office, Capital A, angel investors including Siddharth Shah (co-founder Pharmeasy) and Ramakant Sharma (co-founder Livspace). Accel is a leading venture capital firm in India with over 200 investments and 22 unicorns in the portfolio. Harmony Partners is a US based fund with investments of over $1bn across 100+ companies. Notable investments in India include Byju and Swiggy.
Jiraaf manages a platform that enables retail investors to purchase corporate debt issuances and earn yields of about 12.5% on average. Investors who have already made investments in conventional options such as fixed deposits, mutual funds, and the stock market can use Jiraaf to buy corporate bonds to establish a different investment pool. Only investors with the means to make higher investments can partake in these ventures because the typical ticket size is about Rs 1 lakh.
Jiraaf offers debts from a broad range of clients, including established businesses like Edelweiss, Jindal Power, Zuari International, and Zetwerk, as well as Caratlane, Bizongo, and Zetwerk. The market authority has already received our application for a licence as an online bond platform provider, and we anticipate receiving it soon, according to Ghosh. Every online platform for issuing bonds must have a licence from the regulator, according to Sebi regulations.
With over 1.5 lakh registered customers, including some active investors, the startup has already invested almost Rs 2,400 crore on the site. It plans to invest Rs 10,000 crore in the coming two years. Its monthly disbursal run rate is currently Rs 200 crore, but it hopes to increase to 500 crore in the upcoming 12 months.
