Akudo, an Indian learning-focused neobank, announced today that it has raised $4.2 million in a seed round led by Y Combinator, JAFCO Asia, Incubate Fund India, and AET Fund. Tribe Capital, Cabra Capital, and notable angel investors such as Lalit Keshre (Co-Founder Groww), Rohit Taneja (Co-Founder Decentro), Anup Singh (Ex Axis Bank, ICICI Bank), Romeen Sheth (Metasys), Sriram Krishnan (Ex Spotify, Tinder), Mohit Daga, and others participated in the round.
The funding will be used to grow the company’s team and improve its product offering in order to reach millions of financially underserved and under-served youth in India. The firm currently has over 1 lakh registered consumers and has seen a 75 percent increase in transaction volumes week over week. In addition, the start-up has distributed 25,000+ cards throughout 360+ cities in India.
Commenting on this, Lavika Aggarwal, Co-Founder, Akudo, said, “We are deeply grateful to have such experienced and established investors join our journey as we craft India’s first learningfocused neobank for teenagers. This capital will help us hire the right team and build in-app intelligence and features which will make financial learning more enjoyable for teenagers. We want every teenager to own their Akudo card as soon as they turn 13 and learn crucial lessons early on. Akudo is also bound to positively impact families of teens who will undertake their first step towards financial literacy and ultimately towards true financial empowerment.”
Supriya Singh, Head of South Asia investments, JAFCO Asia, said, “Personal finance for young users has largely been unaddressed. This is the right time to do it and Akudo is the most responsible and thoughtful go-to product for the young users to understand nuances of spending and saving. Lavika and Sajal are just the right guys with the perfect mix of technical expertise and the understanding of the user group”
