Fintech startup Kiwi has raised $13 million in its Series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India, while Baaz Bikes has announced raising $8 million in a Series A funding round led by BIG Capital.
Nexus, Stellaris join Kiwi’s Series A round
Kiwi has raised $13 million (Rs 108 crore) in its Series A funding round led by Omidyar Network India, it announced on Tuesday.
Existing investors Nexus Venture Partners and Stellaris Venture Partners also participated in the financing. This funding will enable Kiwi to further expand its ‘credit cards on UPI’ offerings in India, the startup said in a statement.
Founded in November 2022 by Siddharth Mehta, Mohit Bedi, and Anup Agrawal, Kiwi claims to be the first fintech company in India to launch ‘credit cards with UPI’ by issuing digital RuPay Cards in collaboration with banks. Its mobile application provides users with the ability to make secure payments using either a credit card or bank account directly through their phones.
Kiwi has already issued 25,000 credit cards and aims to onboard 5 lakh customers by the end of 2024. It has partnered with Axis Bank and plans to collaborate with two large banks in the next six months.
The startup had previously secured $6 million in funding from prominent investors, including Nexus Venture Partners, Stellaris Venture Partners, and a group of angel investors.
BIG Capital leads Baaz Bikes’s Series A funding
Baaz Bikes, a full-stack electric vehicle ecosystem for gig workers, on Tuesday said it has raised $8 million in a Series A funding round led by Singapore-based BIG Capital.
The financing also saw the participation of Rakuten Capital, Japan-based Rakuten Group’s venture capital arm; along with support from existing investors like Kalaari Capital, 9Unicorns, and Sumant Sinha.
A substantial part of the funding will be deployed towards the refinement and enhancement of Baaz’s product portfolio, with a core emphasis on enhancing safety and promoting scalability within the gig economy, the startup said in a statement.
Baaz Bikes is transforming the gig economy with its electric scooters and an automated battery-swapping infrastructure known as Baaz Swap. The team develops all these scooters in-house along with the swappable batteries.
Currently, Baaz is already live with its ecosystem in the South Delhi region and plans to expand its footprints throughout the Delhi-NCR region in the next 12 months.