Blog

Navi Technologies on Tuesday said it has converted itself into a public firm in what is seen as a move towards the company launching an initial public offering (IPO) soon.

According to regulatory filings, the technology-driven financial services company — co-founded by Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal — has made this change through a special resolution it passed to convert itself into a public limited company from a private entity.

As per media reports, Navi has already started holding discussions with merchant bankers for the IPO. However, the size of this public offering was not known at the time of publishing this news. An e-mail sent to Navi Technologies did not elicit any response.

Founded in 2018 by Sachin Bansal and Ankit Agarwal, following Sachin’s departure from Flipkart, Navi Technologies (previously BACQ) has acquired a majority stake in Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services (CRIDS) — a micro-finance company.

Navi offers a range of financial services and products, including personal loans, housing loans, health insurance, and mutual funds.

In an earlier statement on its performance for 2021, Navi said it had disbursed personal loans worth Rs 1,750 crore. It noted that about 85 percent of disbursed loans in 2021 were approved in 10 minutes or less, with the fastest loan approval done in 45 seconds.

The company received loan applications from more than 97 percent of pin codes in India and served customers in over 4,500 locations across the country.

According to Navi, Bengaluru, Delhi, Mumbai, Pune, and Jaipur were the top five cities for its personal loans business in 2021. 

Earlier, Sachin Bansal, Co-founder of Navi Group, had noted, “More and more Indians are becoming comfortable with opting for online channels and apps for all their needs, including financial services. This trend has only accelerated in the past one and a half years and is reflected in the tremendous customer response and traction our lending business has seen.” 

Besides the bets on the financial services segment, Sachin has also made investments in various startups, either as equity or debt investment, including Vogo Automotive, Bounce, Krazybee, Ola, and Ather Energy.