Online investment platform Scripbox secures funding at valuation of $110 mn

Scripbox Advisors Pvt. Ltd, which operates an eponymous online investment platform, has raised $21.7 million (around Rs 151.26 crore at current exchange rates) in a fresh funding round from new and existing investors.

Venture capital firm Accel led the investment with an infusion of $13.61 million (Rs 95.93 crore) while impact investor Omidyar Network contributed $2.61 million (Rs 18.44 crore), show Scripbox’s filings with the Registrar of Companies. Both Accel and Omidyar Network have invested in Scripbox in the past.

NLI Strategic Venture Investments Fund, a fintech-focussed venture fund operated by asset management firm Nippon Life Global Investors Americas Inc, came in as a new investor by pumping in $5.23 million (Rs 36.89 crore). 

NLGI Americas is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Japan-based private insurer Nippon Life Insurance Company.

Angel investors — IT industry veteran Balakrishna Adiga and educationist HS Nagaraja — accounted for the rest as they topped up their investment in Scripbox.

Scripbox’s post-money valuation stood at $110 million (Rs 775.20 crore), as per TechCircle estimates.

E-mail queries sent to Scripbox founders Sanjiv Singhal and Atul Shinghal seeking further details on the fundraise, including whether it constituted a Series C round, did not elicit a response till the time of publishing this report.

Scripbox had previously raised capital back in July 2016, when Omidyar, Accel Partners and angel investors had put in money. While the company did not disclose the size of the investment, VCCEdge, the data and financial research platform of VCCircle, pegged it at $6.10 million

Founded in 2012 by Indian Institute of Management (IIM) graduates Singhal and Shinghal, Scripbox is an online mutual fund investment platform. Users can choose the suitable investment time frame, and the app, through an robo-advisor, recommends the best mutual funds.

Users have the option to invest in equity, tax-saving equity-linked savings schemes (ELSS), debt and liquid mutual funds through an SIP (systematic investment plan) or one-time investments.

The six-year-old company also claims to offer other value-added features which include an annual review process.

The company, which is present across more than 1,250 cities and towns in India, has facilitated more than two million transactions with a total investment value of Rs 900 crore, as per information available on its website.

Deals in the space

Online investment platforms had received significant investor attention between 2015 and 2016 with companies like Scripbox, Tauro Wealth and Goalwise raising funding. There was a relative lull thereafter before money started coming in again last year.

In November, wealth management app CashRich, owned by Thane-based CR Fintech Pvt. Ltd, raised angel funding worth $1 million (Rs 7 crore then) from three undisclosed UK-based individuals.

In July, Groww, an online platform that sells direct plans of mutual funds, raised $1.6 million (Rs 11 crore then) in a pre-Series A round led by Insignia Ventures Partners, Lightbridge Partners, Kairos along with CureFit founders Mukesh Bansal and Ankit Nagori, its existing backers.

In June, Providential Advisory Services Pvt. Ltd, which runs mass market mutual fund investment platform Nivesh.com, raised seed funding of Rs 3 crore (around $4,50,000 then) from online deal-making firm LetsVenture and a clutch of angel investors including Google India managing director Rajan Anandan and former Infosys global sales head Basab Pradhan.

Earlier this week, online mutual funds platform Orowealth acquired wealth management app WealthTrust for an undisclosed amount. Both companies had raised institutional funding last year.