Sachin Bansal’s fintech Navi seeks $2B valuation in its first major external fundraise
Reading Time: 2 minutesBansal has largely self-funded Navi up to now and this would be the Bengaluru-headquartered startup’s first large outside fundraise since it was founded in 2018.
Talks have yet to materialize into a deal, so the terms, as well as Bansal’s appetite for outside funding, may change, the sources cautioned. A Navi spokesperson declined to comment.
Navi, which offers personal and home loans as well as health insurance to customers, has been through a few financial twists and turns. Navi originally wanted to raise $440 million in a public listing, according to paperwork it filed in 2022. With the IPO market in a slump, however, the startup abandoned those plans last year.
The funding deliberations point to a significant shift in the venture market in India, as well as an encouraging sign for fintech more globally. After a particularly rough 2023 in which overall startup funding fell 73% in the country, this could be a signal that growth stage funding rounds are back on the table.
India’s startup ecosystem saw a steep decline in large funding rounds last year as global investors including Tiger Global and SoftBank reduced their investments, while domestic VC firms shifted their focus to early-stage companies, according to a recent Bain report.
The Reserve Bank of India’s regulatory actions in recent years have also impacted startups issuing cards and lending, further spooking many investors in the fintech sector.
Under Bansal, Flipkart was a trailblazer for startups in India, raising billions of dollars from a storied list of strategic and financial investors. He then left the startup in 2018 with a $1 billion windfall and opted for a bootstrapped approach for Navi, which he founded the same year.
In recent quarters, Navi has narrowed its focus. It sold its microfinancing unit Chaitanya India for $178.5 million in August as part of a ‘strategic plan to focus on our digital-first businesses,’ Bansal said at the time.
In an interview published by the Indian outlet Moneycontrol Tuesday, Bansal said he would revive plans for the IPO, but only in a ‘few months, once we are ready.’
Bansal has also not given up the idea of turning Navi into a bank. ‘For now, I would say we have parked them, until we see that it is a possibility again in the future,’ he told the Indian outlet. ‘Then we will pick up again when there’s some green light from the regulator at the right time.’
Ref: techcrunch
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