Exclusive: Fintech startup Slice raises $15.5 Mn from existing investor

Fintech startup Slice has raised fresh funding of $15.5 million from Japan-based Gunosy Capital, an existing investor in the Bengaluru-based startup.

Slice had passed a special resolution to issue 1,12,50,000 Series A6 CCD of Rs 100 each to raise Rs 112.5 crore or $15.5 million in compulsory convertible debt, regulatory filings show.

It’s worth noting that Gunosy had led a $6 million round in Slice in June 2020 in participation with EMVC, Kunal Shah, Better Capital, and Das Capital. Slice had also picked up $5.4 million in debt from multiple investors in November.

This investment will make Gunosy one of the largest stakeholders in Slice, controlling a 17.18% stake on a fully converted and diluted basis. Post the current investment, the promoters’ stake has been reduced to 9.11%.

The five-year-old startup provides a physical and a virtual card focused on the young that enables students and salaried professionals to buy collateral-free products and services online on EMI through an app and helps them in building credit scores.

According to the company, it was issuing co-branded Slice cards at an annual run-rate of over four lakh new users as of March 2020 and is present across 18 cities in India including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi.

According to Fintrackr, the Rajan Bajaj-led company recorded a four-fold jump in its revenue from operations to Rs 29.88 crore in FY20 from Rs 7.41 crore in FY19 and it had managed to curtail its losses by more than 81% to Rs 1.87 crore in FY20 and recorded positive cash flows from operations during the period. 

Notably, Slice works with its subsidiary Quadrillion Finance Private limited, an NBFC which finances the credit lines the company provides through its cards. According to Fintrackr, the subsidiary recorded Rs 11.82 crore in revenues and posted a profit of Rs 89.2 lakh in FY20.

Blume Ventures, Traxcn Labs and China’s Finup are the early backers of Slice and it competes with many companies who have been working around the ‘buy now, pay later’ or BNPL concept. 

Some notable players in this space include Zest Money, KreditBee and Lazypay with PoS major Pine Labs also getting ready to join. Lending marketplace Capital Float too has made BNPL vertical its core focus. 

Of late, BNPL has been attracting considerable interest from investors as millennials in India are actively using the feature for buying products and services. KreditBee had scored a $145 million Series C round in March while Zest Money is in talks to raise $80-100 million from new and existing investors.