Bertelsmann India leads $30 mn funding in gold loans marketplace Rupeek

Bengaluru-based online gold loans marketplace Rupeek has raised $30 million in a fresh funding round, led by Bertelsmann India Investments. Existing investors Accel Partners and Sequoia India also participated in the funding round. 

The funding, which will be completed in two tranches, will be used for product development and market expansion, the company said in a statement.

“We will be using our proprietary tech hardware to ensure standardization, fairness, and scalability in gold purity assessment. The investment will also help us rapidly scale across new markets,” Sumit Maniyar, founder and CEO, Rupeek said.

Consumers can apply for gold loans from Rupeek through its app or through a call. The company’s relationship managers will contact the users for more details about loan requirement, which will be followed by gold appraisers visiting consumers’ home or office for the testing process. The company claims it can process and disburse the loan within an hour.

In its last-known investment round in February last year, Rupeek raised $6.83 million, led by Accel Partners. While Accel Partners put in $5 million, Sequoia Capital brought in the remaining funds.

In January 2017, Sequoia had invested $2 million in Rupeek. Between 2015 and 2016, the startup had raised $346,000 from a clutch of investors including Anand Chandrasekaran (former CPO, Snapdeal), Anupam Mittal (founder, People Group), Kunal Shah (founder, Freecharge/Cred) and Ravi Garikipati (ex-CTO, Flipkart).

The startup claims to be serving 2,000 locations across eight cities including Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

“Powered by state-of-the-art technology and an automated asset-light supply chain, Rupeek is transforming the way gold loans are disbursed in India. We are confident about Sumit and the team’s vision to establish Rupeek as the most trusted gold-loan brand in the country,” Pankaj Makkar, managing director at Bertelsmann India Investments, said.

Rupeek

Rupeek, founded by Maniyar and Ashwin Soni, was incorporated in 2015. 

While Rupeek’s gold loans marketplace is operated by Rupeek Fintech, the startup also has a subsidiary called Rupeek Capital. 

Rupeek Capital, which was incorporated in February 2017, will foray into the business of providing short- and long-term loans, the company had announced in a filing with the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA). It has also applied for a non-banking financial company (NBFC) licence.