Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal is in talks to raise funding for his new startup Indian Fintech Navi. Bansal is in talks with investors to raise at a valuation of about $2 billion, three people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch. One person said he was looking for $200 million to $400 million.
Bangalore-headquartered startup Navi has been largely self-funded so far, with Bansal owning 97% of the company, but this is its first major outside funding since its founding in 2018. This will be procurement.
The people cautioned that the terms and Bansal's appetite for outside funding could also change as negotiations have not yet resulted in an agreement. A Navi spokesperson declined to comment.
Navi, which provides personal loans, home loans and health insurance to customers, has experienced several ups and downs financially. Navi originally hoped to raise $440 million in a public offering, according to documents filed in 2022. However, the Bangalore-based startup abandoned its plans last year amid a downturn in the IPO market.
The funding deliberations not only signal a major shift in India's venture market, but also a bright sign for fintech to move further globally. 2023 was a particularly tough year, with overall domestic startup funding down 73%, but this could signal that growth-stage funding rounds are back on the table.
TechCrunch reported last month that Abu Dhabi's sovereign wealth fund ADIA was in talks to back Indian audio storytelling platform Pocket FM. Indian eyewear brand Lenskart, Temasek-backed consumer nutrition platform Healthcart and bike taxi aggregator Rapido are also in talks to raise funding for a new phase of growth, the Indian outlet said. The Economic Times newspaper reported on Thursday. Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah is one of the investors Swiggy-backed Rapido has been involved with in recent weeks, one of the people familiar with the matter told TechCrunch.
According to a recent Bain report, India's startup ecosystem has seen growth in the last year as global investors such as Tiger Global and SoftBank cut back on investments, while domestic VC firms shifted their focus to early-stage companies. The number of large funding rounds has decreased significantly.
The Reserve Bank of India's recent regulatory actions have also affected card-issuing and lending startups, further spooking many investors in the fintech space.
Under Bansal, Flipkart became a pioneer among Indian startups, raising billions of dollars from a prestigious list of strategic and financial investors. He then left the startup with his $1 billion in funding in 2018, opting for an in-house approach for his Navi, which he founded the same year.
Even though this could be Nabi's first external pay rise, that doesn't mean Bansal isn't talking to stakeholders. As TechCrunch previously reported, the fintech company held talks with potential investors, including SoftBank, ahead of its IPO filing. Those discussions stalled after Navi's application for a banking license was rejected by the country's central bank, TechCrunch previously reported.
In recent quarters, Navi has narrowed its focus. Bansal sold his microfinance unit Chaitanya India in August for $178.5 million as part of a “strategic plan to focus on digital-first businesses,” Bansal said at the time.
In an interview published by Indian media outlet Moneycontrol on Tuesday, Bansal said he would revive plans for an IPO “as soon as it is ready, in the next few months.”
Bansal also hasn't given up on the idea of turning Navi into a bank. “At the moment, I can say that we have parked them until we know that there is a possibility of it happening again in the future,” he told Indian media. “Then, when the regulator gives us the green light at the right time, we’ll be off again.”