Neobank Kaleidofin Raises $10 Mn in Its Series B Funding

Elevates two founding members as Co-founders

Kaleidofin is a neo-bank with a mission to propel customers towards their real-life goals by providing intuitive and tailored financial solutions. It offers simple, well-designed, financial solutions to address the needs of over 600 million underbanked and unbanked Indians engaged in the informal economy. The primary focus of Kaleidofin’s product lines is to dramatically increase access and usage of formal financial services for informal sector customers in a way that can have a transformational impact on customers’ lives

The firm announced today that it has raised $10 million in its series B funding, led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. This takes the total funding raised by Kaleidofin till date to $18 million. Existing institutional investors, Oiko Credit, Flourish Ventures, Omidyar Network, Blume Ventures and Bharat Fund also participated in the Series B round.

Kaleidofin’s key product lines are: KaleidoGoals, a goal-based savings solutions, KiScore, a supervised machine learning based automated credit health check for informal sector customers, KaleidoCredit, a credit as a platform service for lending and debt capital markets use cases and KaleidoPay, a suite of inclusive payment solutions. Across product lines, Kaleidofin has over one million active transacting customers across India. It has created a localised and accessible footprint across 230 districts and 14 states in semi urban and rural India.

Sucharita Mukherjee and Puneet Gupta, Founders of Kaleidofin said, “We look forward to scaling up the Kaleidocredit business line and drive deep loan product innovation focused on the informal customer and nano business. To this end, we will deepen our investments in developing our technology, risk management and data science capabilities”

“’Access to customizable credit for nano-entrepreneurs can unleash a growth wave for enterprises and the economy, and also enable some to graduate to small and medium enterprises. Kaleidofin can play a key role in this movement based on its on-the-ground partnerships and the scientific process for risk assessment and pricing.’ Added Geeta Goel, Country Director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation India.

To support the next phase of exponential growth, Kaleidofin has appointed Natasha Jethanandani, CTO and Vipul Sekhsaria, Chief Networks Officer, both founding team members, as Co-Founders. Vipul has built out the last mile networks that enable Kaleidofin to reach out to the customer and has been responsible.

Neobank Kaleidofin launches 'KaleidoPay' to Enable MFI Customers Make Digital Payments for Loans

• Kaleidofin today announced introduction of KaleidoPay, a service that enables digital payments for MFI customers


• Samasta Microfinance  is one among the first set of institutions to integrate Kaleidopay for loan collections.

Kaleidofin Private Limited is a neobank whose mission is to propel customers towards their real-life goals by providing intuitive and tailored financial solutions. Designed for the informal customer segment, Kaleidofin uniquely combines a tech and touch model to effectively reach out to its customers. It has network partnerships with over 35 institutions such as MFIs, Cooperative Banks, Corporate Houses and NGOs, who provide the last mile connect to the customers. 

Kaleidofin today announced the launch of KaleidoPay, a suite of payment solutions that allows customers of NBFCs, who usually pay in cash, to get set up easily on digital payments. Samasta Microfinance Limited, a subsidiary of IIFL, with  1.2 million active customers across 16 states in India will be one of the first financial institutions to offer KaleidoPay to its customers as a service that will enable its customers to pay loan EMIs to Samasta 

Venkatesh N , Managing Director ,Samasta Microfinance Limited, “We have been working with Kaleidofin for over 2 years and have seen the acceptance of their digital goal linked financial solutions services amidst our customers. We are excited about implementing digital payments through KaleidoPay. We believe inclusive digital payments that solve for the microfinance customer is the need of the hour with the social distancing being the new norm. It will also drive long term operating efficiencies and allows our staff to devote more time to customer knowledge and building even deeper relationships with the customer”.

KaleidoPay focuses on digitising payments such as EMIs, savings contributions or insurance premium. Machine learning algorithms deployed in KaleidoPay, identifies common issues such as blurry picture or errors in filling mandates in real time for services such as Nach mandate set up. It helps customers/agents to rectify the problem immediately rather than waiting for the next visit. 

Through KaleidoPay, institutions can activate digital payments and payment mandates for new and existing customers. It can also be activated mid-cycle for multiple loan cycles. KaleidoPay supports payment collection not only from customers who own smartphones but also customers who own feature phones. It is supported by almost all banks including customers holding bank accounts in Grameen Banks, Cooperative Banks, regional rural banks and other scheduled commercial banks. Also coming up under KaleidoPay is access to Bharat Bill Pay system for Kaleidofin’s network partners. 

“MFIs in India serve approximately 56 million households. In the last few years, a majority of them have accessed and used a mobile internet facility for information or communication. Our field interactions with the customers indicate that there is a lot more awareness and willingness to adapt to new online experience- including financial services. We have been using Kaleidopay for 22 months and were pleasantly surprised to see that over 80% of our customer base continued to contribute towards their life goals, even during the crisis. This would not have been possible without the digital payment mechanism set in place via KaleidoPay.” Said Sucharita Mukherjee, Co-Founder & CEO, Kaleidofin Private Limited.

Kaleidofin has also tied-up with two other MFIs and is in talks with three other MFIs to implement KaleidoPay.

Samasta Microfinance Limited, an IIFL Group company, is a microfinance institution committed to working towards women’s economic empowerment. Since its inception in March 2008, Samasta has been providing innovative and affordable financial products to women from unbanked sections in society in both rural and semi urban areas. The organisation caters to 16 states across India, Samasta with its wide array of responsible financial products and services acts as a catalyst for sustainable and inclusive economic growth. Samasta is leveraging innovative technology solutions to enable customers to enjoy the benefits of digitisation and it aims to create economic opportunities for all and to improve the standard of living in the communities it serves.

As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives, Samasta has established financial literacy centres for customers to equip them to make smart financial decisions for a secure future for themselves and their families.

Neobank Kaleidofin's Customer's Savings Crosses $1 million mark

Kaleidofin Private Limited, India’s first neobank for the informal sector customer announced that in less than two years of operations Kaleidofin customers have saved over $ 1 million in total.

Kaleidofin was started by Puneet Gupta and Sucharita Mukherjee in 2017. The company aims to provide relevant financial services to the 600 million underbanked population of India.

The company recently announced its Series A fund raise worth INR 360 million. The round was led by Oikocredit. Flourish, Omidyar Network, Bharat Inclusion Fund and Blume Ventures participated in the funding round as well.

Sucharita Mukherjee, Co-Founder and CEO, Kaleidofin, said “At Kaleidofin our objective has been to provide financial services that are not just easy and convenient but also designed to suit specific needs of customer segments, across geographies and incomes class. Our solutions consider the financial roadblocks and vulnerability, such as volatile income streams and limited understanding of financial products and hence suitable for the masses."

Kaleidofin starts with a ‘goal’ approach. Instead of selling individual products such as savings, investments, it provides an interlinked solution, a combination of saving, investment, credit and insurance, interlinked under a single account. Each solution has a holistic, wealth management approach to the small saving customer.

As a first step, a customer identifies a Goal for which they want to save. Kaleidofin App matches the income to the goal and suggests the best possible solution, which defines an estimated monthly amount the customer needs to save and the duration for which they need to save. The recommendation takes into account the financial health of the customer. The savings are then invested on behalf of the customers to a pre-determined mix of mutual funds, selected according to the risk persona of the customer, to ensure higher return on investment.

Once the customer has built a reasonable corpus of savings (~6 months of savings), Kaleidofin helps provide a line of credit that is secured against these savings. A customer can tide over small income shocks without any capital loss.

Customers can start saving from as low as ₹500 per month with the average monthly contribution being ₹950, in least.

Kaleidofin customers can start saving from as low as INR 500 per month. The average savings of a customer at present is INR 950 per month.

Kaleidofin has a partnership model. It works with MFIs, NGOs and Corporate houses to provide the last mile touch point with our customers. As on date, it has tie-ups with 28 network partners and have over 50,000 customers through them. It is currently present in 10 states of India and aims to expand its presence to over 20 states in the coming year.

Oikocredit leads INR 360 Mn Funding of Kaleidofin; Flourish and Omidyar Network India double down on previous investment

Kaleidofin Private Limited, India’s first neobank for the informal sector customer, today announced it closed an INR 360 million Series A round led by Oikocredit, an impact investor with four decades of experience in financial inclusion. Existing investors Flourish, a Silicon Valley-based venture firm backing financial health solutions globally, and Omidyar Network India, an investment firm focused on social impact doubled down on their investments in the previous round. Previous funders who participated in the round include Blume Ventures, angel investor Prof. Shlomo Ben-Haim, and Bharat Inclusion Seed Fund, which doubled its stake during this raise. Unitus Capital acted as an exclusive financial advisor to transaction.

“At Kaleidofin, we have reimagined the way financial services are designed and accessed by the lower income groups. Our solutions take into account the financial roadblocks and vulnerability that these segments, such as volatile income streams and limited understanding of the fine print in financial products, “ said Sucharita Mukherjee, Kaleidofin CEO and cofounder. “Our deep ‘tech with touch’ model ensures our financial services are accessible through a trusted channel at an extremely low-cost. We are encouraged by the early wins we have had thus far. Funds raised in this round will help us strengthen our technology backend and respond to growth opportunities.”

Founded in 2017 by Sucharita Mukherjee and Puneet Gupta, Kaleidofin provides curated, goal-based financial solutions to customers in the underbanked segments using proven financial planning and wealth management principles. For each customer, Kaleidofin begins with understanding the financial goals of the household, its main sources of financial vulnerability, preferences, and tolerance toward financial risk. It creates individual “personas” of households through multiple sources of information, such as the demographic profile, income sources, asset ownership, among others, to tailor specific financial solutions for its customers.

A typical solution offered by Kaleidofin for its customers comprises of a combination of savings, investment, credit, and insurance products—all items focused on creating financial resiliency and helping people to take the first step on a financial health journey. The goal-linked financial solution approach ensures no cognitive burden, otherwise required in financial planning.

Kaleidofin is Oikocredit’s first equity investment in the fintech sector in India.

“India is witnessing a transformational change in the way financial services are available and accessed, especially in the underbanked sector. With Kaleidofin as our first equity investment in the Indian fintech sector, we want to promote and be part of the responsible offering of savings and insurance products to the low-income segments of the population. We are confident of the social impact that technology can make in improving access to formal financial services and Kaleidofin team’s understanding of the customer’s requirements. We look forward to working with them,” said Anirudh Sarda, Equity Officer, Oikocredit.

Flourish, the global fund backing impact fintech, which spun out of Omidyar Network earlier this year, also renewed support to Kaleidofin in this round.

“Financial services are a mean to an end. They are supposed to act as tools helping people achieve their life goals and improve their lives, but that has not been the norm,” said Anuradha Ramachandran, director at Flourish, who leads the company’s investments in India. “Kaleidofin’s approach to understanding the consumer, matching their needs with affordable, best-in-class solutions, and guiding them through the decision-making process is a complete reset in this space—one that has been long needed in India. We are excited to continue to support Kaleidofin on their journey to helping Indians build economic resiliency and achieve financial health.“

Amol Warange, Director, Omidyar Network India said, “A vast majority of the Indian population, over 600 million, does not have reliable access to financial services. While there is progress in reaching this customer segment for services such as credit, the full suite of banking services is yet to reach this customer base. Kaleidofin’s unique goal-based solutions can have a positive and meaningful long-term impact on the lives of their customers, who are new to the formal financial sector. As the focus of financial service providers moves from financial access to consumer financial health, Kaleidofin is at the forefront of this revolution.”

In less than two years of operations, Kaleidofin has over 50,000 customers spread across 10 states in India. It has nearly 30 network partners which include MFIs, corporates, and NGOs. Kaleidofin was selected to showcase its innovation model that addresses SDGs through digital financing, at United Nations General Assembly, Special Task Force Event.

Awards - Young Global Leader 2019 (WEF); Women in Fintech Award- Fintegrate 2019; Women Entrepreneur Award 2019 - IFTA

Oikocredit is a social impact investor and worldwide cooperative. Oikocredit has over 40 years’ experience funding organisations active in financial inclusion, agriculture and renewable energy. Oikocredit’s loans, equity investments and capacity building aim to enable people on low incomes in Africa, Asia and Latin America to sustainably improve their living standards. Oikocredit finances over 670 partners, with total outstanding capital of over € 1 billion (at 30 September 2019).

Flourish is an evergreen, early-stage venture fund investing globally in entrepreneurs whose innovations help people achieve financial health and prosperity. Spun out of Omidyar Network in 2019 with an existing portfolio of $200 million, Flourish received a new commitment of $300 million from Pam and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of eBay. Flourish invests in a number of themes in fintech, insurtech, regtech and other technologies, as well as supports nonprofit organizations, that empower people and help foster a fair, more inclusive economy. Flourish is managed by a global team with offices in Silicon Valley, Washington DC, London, and India. For more information visit www.flourishventures.com or join our community through Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, https://medium.com/@flourishventures.

Omidyar Network India invests in bold entrepreneurs who help create a meaningful life for every Indian, especially the hundreds of millions of Indians in low-income and lower-middle-income populations, ranging from the poorest among us to the existing middle class. To drive empowerment and social impact at scale, we work with entrepreneurs in the private, nonprofit and public sectors, who are tackling India’s hardest and most chronic problems. We make equity investments in early stage enterprises and provide grants to nonprofits in the areas of Digital Identity, Education, Emerging Tech, Financial Inclusion, Governance & Citizen Engagement, and Property Rights. Omidyar Network India is part of The Omidyar Group, a diverse collection of companies, organizations and initiatives, supported by philanthropists Pam and Pierre Omidyar, founder of eBay.