Gold-backed lending startup Rupeek raises $60m from GGV Capital, others

Rupeek, a gold-backed online lending platform in India, said today that it has raised US$60 million in two separate funding rounds from GGV Capital, Bertelsmann India Investments, Binny Bansal, KB Investments, Tanglin Venture Partners, Sequoia India, and Accel Partners.

Photo credit: Rupeek

“Our plan is to scale existing and newer channels for gold monetization. We will use the fresh funds to invest in technology, customer acquisition and work towards improving the accessibility of credit in the country,” said Sumit Maniyar, CEO at Rupeek.

Founded in 2015, the fintech startup enables local big banks to offer gold-backed loan products by collecting and depositing the precious metal at the nearest branch of the partner banks that offered the loan.

The digital lending platform currently operates in 10 cities, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, New Delhi, Jaipur, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Surat, Mumbai, Coimbatore, and Pune. It aims to offer its service to 1 billion Indians by 2022 across 100 cities.

Rupeek said that India has almost 90% of gold lying idle. It aims to monetize India’s US$1 trillion gold and help the country achieve a US$5 trillion economy by 2025, according to a statement.

“For India’s middle-class households, gold has long been a favorite way to save and invest,” said Hans Tung, a managing partner at GGV Capital who has now joined Rupeek’s board following the investment. “Rather than letting it sit idle, Rupeek has turned a family’s dormant asset into an easy way to get a loan at affordable rates to grow their small business or pay for emergency needs.”

The company raised US$2 million in a seed round in 2017 from Sequoia Capital, followed by a US$6.8 million series A funding round with Accel Partners in 2018. Last year, it secured US$30 million in a series B round led by Bertelsmann India Investments.