9 fintech startups that could soon be unicorns in India

Fintech became one of the hottest sectors in India last year, attracting over US$1.2 billion in funding. This year, Indian fintech startups have continued to attract VC interest, even though we haven’t seen a mega deal like the US$890 million invested in Alibaba-backed mobile wallet Paytm.

While Paytm remains India’s only fintech unicorn to date, there may be several more coming up soon on the horizon, even as India rolls out a Unified Payments Interface for easier money transfer on mobile phones. Startup data analytics firm Tracxn has identified nine such fintech startups in India that have the potential to become unicorns with US$1 billion or more in valuation.

These include category leaders and those with large addressable markets. Their domains range from payments to marketplaces for loans and providers of enterprise tech. Tracxn used multiple parameters to identify startups most attractive for late stage funding. Here are the nine startups that could soon give company to India’s lone fintech unicorn Paytm.

See: How Alibaba is helping Paytm think differently about ecommerce in India

MobiKwik

MobiKwik, whose mobile wallet for digital payments competes with Paytm, has been spreading its tentacles into everything in fintech from loans to investments. It has raised US$87 million in funding, including a US$50 million series C round from Japanese and Taiwanese investors in May. Its innovations, such as a cash pickup network for the large unbanked population, hold the key to its growth story amidst a fierce mobile wallet war in India.

See: What you need to know about the mobile wallet war in India

BankBazaar

BankBazaar is a marketplace for loans. The Indian startup, which raised US$60 million in series C funding led by Amazon last year, has also ventured into Singapore. This is a space that is seeing a number of significant players coming up to get around the inefficiencies in the traditional system. They are especially useful for small businesses that find it hard to get credit from banks for working capital.

See: Formula for fintech disruption: tailored rates, quicker loans using risk analytics

PolicyBazaar

Like BankBazaar, this startup is also a marketplace that makes it easy for users to compare financial products. However, PolicyBazaar focuses on insurance. The startup raised US$40 million in a series D round last year.

See: P2P lending is broken in India. What can we do to fix it before it’s too late?

Financial Software Systems

FSS Tech provides white label solutions for processing digital payments and other financial transactions, including the management of ATMs. The Chennai-based firm, which has a global footprint across India, Singapore, the Middle East, and the US, raised a US$57 million series D round of funding in 2014, led by PremjiInvest – the investment arm of Indian tech billionaire Azim Premji.

See: Indian banks and fintech startups are making friends

Fino Paytech

Fino Paytech is one of the 11 firms to get a so-called payment bank license from India’s central bank. These “banks” are restricted to functions related to payments and financial transactions. FreeCharge, which has merged with ecommerce site Snapdeal, partners with Fino Paytech to provide its mobile wallet service. The Bharat Petroleum Corporation recently picked up a 21 percent stake in Fino Paytech.

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