Indian fintech Slice Bank is looking to raise between $250-$300 million to expand its offering with merchant services.
Image: Slice
Indian fintech unicorn Slice Bank is seeking its first fundraise since its unique merger with North East Small Finance Bank.
Per rough estimates, the startup, which received the Reserved Bank of India’s (RBI) approval to transform into a banking entity last year, is looking to attract about $250-$300 million from investors and family offices.
Upon transition from limited fintech services to a full-scope banking institution, Slice has already rolled out its UPI-first prepaid account along with savings and lending services for select user groups. Reportedly, the small finance bank also plans to introduce merchant lending and instant payment settlement offerings in the near future. Those will presumably be available through a separate app.
The combination of traditional banking tools with analytics and innovative fintech gamification features helps Slice stand out among its competitors. The rare approval of RBI also gives the institution more public trust and credibility.
Having started its business as a credit card-issuing firm, Slice quickly reached unicorn status, backed by Tiger Global, Insight Partners, Blume Ventures and other prominent investors. Being one of the most disruptive startups in India, the fintech bank is using its own underwriting system to access individual’s creditworthiness instead of relying on archaic methodologies used by local legacy banks. Upon the merger with North East Small Finance Bank, the value of Slice has grown to about $1.3-1.5 billion.
Except for expanding its banking offerings, the ambitious startup is planning to extend its digital and physical presence to reach a wider target audience. A possible strategy is setting up a network of digital banking units. Such locations typically host certain minimum digital infrastructure that allows customers to perform some banking operations in either self-service or assisted modes. This digital-first hybrid customer experience creates multiple channels for different client needs regarding both new and existing banking services.
At present, the number of this small finance bank branches is about 200. Once expanded, Slice hopes to serve about 70 million customers by 2030. Its current customer base is over 12 million.
