Mumbai-based fintech platform Orowealth raises $1.6 M in Series-A funding from Powerhouse Ventures, others
Orowealth aims to use the funds for product innovation, strengthening research capabilities, and expanding product portfolio.
Direct mutual fund platform Orowealth has raised the Series-A funding in a round led by Powerhouse Ventures, which also saw participation from other global and Indian investors.
Founded in 2016 by IIT-IIM alumni Nitin Agrawal, Vijay Kuppa and Yogesh Powar, Orowealth offers zero-commission products and personalised financial advice to retail investors with the aim of maximising their returns. Orowealth has existing partnerships with large financial institutions like Sharekhan and Online Trading Academy to provide wealth management solutions to their clients. With an aim to ‘make investors richer’, Orowealth offers financial tools for execution, analysis and advice on various products such as MFs, stocks, bonds, insurance etc.
The fintech company is reportedly India’s first zero-commission direct mutual fund platform. It is currently managing over Rs 500 crore of assets under advisory and aims to cross Rs 3,000 crore of assets by December 2019.
In a statement released to the media, Nitin Agrawal, Co-founder & CEO, said, “We would like to thank our new and existing investors for their belief and confidence in our business model and in the team at Orowealth. We would also like to thank our customers for placing their trust in brand Orowealth, and this fund raise gives us an opportunity to serve them even better.”
Besides Powerhouse Ventures, which led the funding round, Japanese fintech company Money Forward Inc, US-based VC firm Social Capital and Japan-based VC firm B Dash Ventures also participated. Other prominent angel investors included Anand Chandrsekaran, ex-CPO, Airtel, and Dinesh Agarwal, Founder, Indiamart. Existing investors M&S Partners and GSF also participated in this round.
Post the fundraise, Sri Peddu from Powerhouse Ventures will join the Board and Money Forward will take a board observer role at Orowealth.
Speaking on the development, Peddu said, "In India, the financial services industry is going through a tectonic shift driven by technology and innovation. Through automated investment planning, Orowealth is democratising access to financial products for the retail investor and reducing time-to-market for major banks, large wealth management firms and brokerage houses.”
On the firm's plans, Vijay Kuppa, Co-founder & COO, added, “We will invest the funds towards product innovation and in strengthening our research capabilities as we look to add new products in the coming months. We also plan to focus on forging alliances with partners who wish to offer tech-enabled wealth products to their customer base.”
This is the second round of funding for the company. In 2016, Orowealth raised its first seed round of $400,000 from GSF, Powerhouse Ventures and M&S Partners in 2016.