Vantage Point by EMVC - May 24 2024
Updates to keep up with the latest in fintech from our vantage point.
Welcome back,
This week PhonePe partnered with LankaPay. Shivalik Bank and SAVE group raised funding. Mizuho is in talks to acquire KKR’s stake in InCred. There is also an insightful weekend read on the Indian economy by Forbes.
From the team at Emphasis Ventures.
If you’re a fintech startup or thinking about starting up, we’d like to meet you. At Emphasis Ventures, we’ve worked with founders of Slice, M2P, Khatabook, Bureau and many others from their early days.
PhonePe announced its partnership with Sri Lanka based LankaPay to enable Indian travellers to make payments in the country. The transactions will be facilitated by the rails of UPI and the LankaPay National Payment Network via QR codes. This partnership is notable as over 60% of the tourists that come to Sri Lanka every year are from India.
Shivalik Bank is reportedly raising $11.5mm in a round led by Lightspeed and Sorin Investments. Shivalik is a small finance bank focused on retail and SMB credit and claims over 600k users.
In a related development, Japan's Mizuho is in talks to acquire KKR's part stake in fintech unicorn InCred. This comes after InCred's 2022 merger with KKR’s non-banking arm 'KKR India Financial Services' and the lender's potential IPO that is expected over the next 12-18 months.
Rural inclusion focused lender, SAVE Group, raised $13mm led by Incofin India and Maj Invest. The group has assets under management worth $235mm and an additional $120mm through its banking correspondent and co-lending partnerships.
Weekend read by Forbes: Leading Experts Weigh In On Growing India’s Economy In 2024–25."...India’s economy has been notably resilient amidst the past year’s global inflation and supply chain constraints, boasting an impressive growth rate of 7.8% in the 2023–24 fiscal year (FY) and exceeding the average G20 rate of 3.4%. Strong growth in the manufacturing sector, higher-than-expected agricultural output, and robust government spending have made India the world’s fastest-growing major economy..."
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