Fintech Startup Slice Raises $50 Million To Scale Up UPI Payments
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Fintech Startup Slice Raises $50 Million To Scale Up UPI Payments

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Slice, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup, has secured $50 million in a Series C fundraising round. Tiger Global led the investment, which included Moore Strategic Ventures and Insight Partners as well as other current investors. As a new investor, GMO VenturePartners has entered the slice’s cap table.

 The fintech startup is in discussions to raise $55-60 million in a fundraising round with Tiger Global and Insight Partners. The incoming funds will be used to support the slice’s new UPI product expansion, according to a company release.

Slice, founded in 2016 by Rajan Bajaj, provides credit cards to young people with no credit history. On its platform, it claims to have 12 million users. So far, the fintech business has garnered over $270 million in several fundraising rounds, with the most recent round pushing its valuation above the billion-dollar level.

In collaboration with Visa and SBM Bank, the fintech company offers credit and payment cards. It also offers rewards and discounts on its credit and payment cards through a variety of partner channels. Users may also get a credit line from the slice, which starts from INR 10,000 and goes up to INR 10 lakh.

The startup is developing a UPI payment system that it is now testing among its employees. Slice plans to deploy the product shortly with the new money, competing with companies like Paytm, Flipkart’s PhonePe, Google’s Google Pay, and the government-backed BHIM, among others.

This money is just a small portion of Slice’s bigger Series C round. The financial startup is in discussions to fund a total of $150 million.

The slice’s losses increased by 394 percent to INR 8.9 crore in FY21, according to the latest numbers. At the same time, its operating revenue increased by roughly 18% to INR 35.3 Cr in FY21. In addition, the slice recorded a 34% increase in costs, which totaled INR 47.8 crore in FY21.

Fintech companies have maintained one of the top three industries in terms of capital raised in the country since the beginning of 2021, raising about $10 billion during that period.

Slice money, on the other hand, comes at a time when the country’s startup industry is undergoing a fundraising slump. Last week, India’s startups raised just roughly $258 million, with Country Delight accounting for $108 million of that total.