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Besides, Snapmint plans to expand its network of merchants and power the purchases of more than 450 Mn consumers in India

Capital infusion will boost Snapmint’s expansion plans as it looks to grow merchant partners 50X pan-India and bring a unique shopping experience to customers

The fintech startup claims to have grown over 4X in the last six months

Mumbai-based fintech startup, Snapmint has raised $9 Mn in Series A funding round from a cohort of marquee investors and industry leaders led by Prashasta Seth, CEO and CIO of Prudent Investment Managers. 

Other angel investors who participated in the round are 9 Unicorns, Anicut Capital, Negen Capital, Ramakant Sharma–founder of Livspace, Usama Fayyad- chairman of Open Insights and head of Institute for Experiential AI at Northeastern University. 

“We are truly impressed by the team’s ability to underwrite young customers from Tier 2 towns instantly and seamlessly, which shows in the portfolio quality. This differentiates them from a vast majority of the other players in the space. We are proud to partner with Snapmint on this growth journey and look forward to powering the next revolution in digital payments and purchase financing,” said Prashasta Seth, CEO and CIO of Prudent Investment Managers.

With this capital infusion, the fintech startup plans to expand its network of merchants, launch a suite of innovative BNPL products and power the purchases of over 450 Mn consumers in India.  

“We are excited to partner with marquee investors and industry leaders in our growth journey. This investment will boost our expansion plans as we look to grow our merchant partners 50X pan-India and bring a unique shopping experience to our customers,” said Nalin Agrawal, cofounder of Snapmint. 

Founded by Nalin Agrawal, Anil Gelra, Abhineet Sawa and Rahul Agarwal in 2017, Snapmint is a BNPL (Buy Now Pay Later) platform that offers options by democratising credit access. It makes shopping on installments possible without credit cards. 

According to the startup, its platform helps shoppers buy mobiles, electronics and various other products via its seamless online process. It further allows users to choose its products, as well as EMI plans, through a paperless and hassle-free experience. 

“Our transaction-led underwriting models allow us to democratize access to credit, provide fair financial terms and give the freedom of choice to our consumers,” Nalin Agarwal added. 

According to its statement, the startup has partnered with brands (merchant partners) with a seamless proposition that empowers them to increase both sales, and total customer base. 

The fintech startup claims to have more than 4 Mn consumers on its platform, many of who are from Tier 2 towns, and serves more than 27,000 pin-codes across India. Besides allowing retail consumers to buy with instant credit and realise savings, the startup helps merchants tap into a significantly larger customer base and get greater bang for the buck on marketing spends. Snapmint said this approach has helped it grow over 4X in the last six months. 

The Indian retail market is one of the largest markets in the world. According to a Bain and Co report, 80% of the growth in the new eretail customers came from Tier 2 towns in India. 

Snapmint informed that it is looking to democratise access to credit by allowing these customers to buy on interest free instalments, with no hidden costs. For online merchants, its platform gives upto a 25% boost to sales, opening up a brand new segment of customers which were previously not shopping with them.

The BNPL sector has been abuzz lately with many interesting developments. In the last week we saw, merchant solutions platform, Mosambee acquired BNPL-focused fintech startup, Benow for an undisclosed amount. As part of the deal, both startups will operate individually, but under the larger ambit of the Mosambee umbrella.

Earlier in January 2022, Chennai-based neobank startup IppoPay raised $2.1 Mn in a seed round from Coinbase Ventures, Better Capital, Blume Founders Fund, and several high-profile angel investors. Besides using the funds to strengthen its technology stack, the startup decided to launch a BNPL service aimed at equipping offline retailers to offer their customers easy access to credit at the point of sale.

Prior to this, Bengaluru-based BNPL startup Simpl bagged $40 Mn in its Series B funding round led by Valar Ventures along with its existing investor IA Ventures.