BankBazaar raises Rs80 crore in a financing round led by Sequoia Capital

BankBazaar.com, Indian  multi-brand financial product comparison platform, today announced raising Rs80 crores in a financing round led by Sequoia Capital.

The round also had participation of existing investor, Walden International.

With the funding, the company would be able to better educate consumers about its unique 7-minute loan approval process, launch a new portfolio of insurance and savings products, launch new banks on the platform, with the issue of banking licenses and drive the growth of its mobile platform that allowed consumers to obtain real time quotes on their smartphones.

The company helps consumers research, choose and obtain the right financial products online. With an array of financial products to choose from, thanks to the proliferation of service providers in a Rs4,00,000-crore market, consumers faced a challenge in identifying the right financial product to suit their needs.

BankBazaar has been helping internet users understand and navigate the financial lending market effectively.

The Financial Express quoted Adhil Shetty, CEO, BankBazaar as saying, while bank loans were expected to grow 15 per cent in the current fiscal year ending March 2014, there was a 90 per cent year on year increase in online loan applications.

The company was established in 2008 by three professionals - Adhil Shetty, who was earlier with Deloitte Touche Tomahatsu's US East alliances, Arjun Shetty, earlier with Amazon, and Rati Rajkumar, formerly with Kraft.

According to commentators, the startup was cashing in on urban India's growing appetite to compare and buy financial products online. In its first year of operations, the online financial aggregator raised $1 million from Chennai-based AVT Infotech.

The Times of India quoted Gautam Mago, principal in Sequoia Capital, as saying retail financial products was estimated to be a market upwards of Rs 4 lakh crore.

He added, a consumer today was exposed to a far greater number of choices for each financial product because of the proliferation of service providers. He added, helping India's 150 million internet users understand and navigate this market was the very significant problem that BankBazaar solved, he said.

With the fresh funds, the firm looks to expand its footprint in home, car, personal, and educational loans and credit card products.