Goal-based mutual fund investment startup Kuvera raises $250K from angel investors

Online mutual fund investment startup Kuvera has raised $250,000 (Rs 1.6 crore) in its second round (bridge round) of angel investment.

The investors who participated in the round include Baskar Subramanian, co-founder of Amagi Media Labs; Saket Kumar, managing director at Swank Capital; Gaurav Suri, managing director at Livermore Capital; and Ankit Kesarwani from New Vernon Investment Management.

Kuvera had previously raised $250,000, which in total makes $500,000 of investments into the company.

The Bengaluru-based financial planning and investment platform will use the fresh capital to expand its offerings and grow its technology team.

Launched in October 2017 by Gaurav Rastogi, Mayank Sharma, and Neelabh Sanyal, Kuvera allows investors to put money in mutual funds’ direct plans which offer higher returns than regular plans by saving on third-party commissions.

Kuvera claims to have over 15,000 users with assets under management (AUM) of over Rs 250 crore.

According to an industry expert, India’s asset management industry has grown at a CAGR of 2 per cent over the last 17 years and is expected to grow to $700 billion by 2022.

The SEBI-registered investment advisor Kuvera offers only direct schemes—mutual fund plans that do not involve broker commissions—and competes with Zerodha in this sub-category.

Like Kuvera, Sqrrl also works in the goal-based investment schemes, which involves target savings for various goals such as making purchases, traveling, marriage and others.

On the platform, users can create a bucket list of future goals and earmarks funds which he would like to save in a particular number of months and would fulfill the wish list afterward.

While large platforms like PolicyBazaar and BankBazaar offer a host of products such as insurance, investment schemes, loans and several allied services, a number of platforms specifically target the mutual funds segment. These include Scripbox, FundsIndia, and Wishfin.

In August last year, the wealth management platform, had partnered with Uber to offer investment products and financial planning services to Uber’s driver partners.

The development was reported by Mint.