[Funding alert] EnKash raises $20 mn in funding from Ascent Capital, others

EnKash, a fintech startup has raised $20 million in new funding round from Ascent Capital along with Baring India Private Equity Partners and Singapore-based White Ventures.

Existing investors Mayfield India and Axilor Ventures also participated in this round. The startup plans to use the funds to expand its offerings around banking-as-a-service to increase its ‘plug and play’ card issuance stack and its geographic presence.

The Mumbai-based firm was founded in 2017 by former Citrus Pay executives – Naveen Bindal, Hemant Vishnoi, and Yadvendra Tyagi, It operates a payment management platform for enterprises such as corporate card issuance.

“We intend to make our presence globally, especially in MENA (the Middle East/North Africa) and Southeast Asian countries with the current investment…most of the investment will also go into product and technology development and hiring and scaling up in India”, said, Hemant Vishnoi, co-founder of EnKash.

Vishnoi also said that the corporate expense management market in India is pegged at $5 billion, we will expand further to capture the market in India.

“On the non-financial side, we have started something called the rewards points where we make sure special discounts are being offered to EnKash customers. And there are other products that are in the beta stage”, he added.

The company’s average ticket size for Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) expenses is around Rs 10-12 lakhs, while normal expenses are around Rs 5-6 lakhs. Enkash has an average annual spending rate of around $2 billion.

“We have deployed more than 500,000 corporate cards to date. And our purchase cards are typically like a BNPL offering. The company has partnered with three NBFCs as of now. The small to medium-size market in India is bigger and the need for better products is required for the financial and non-financial segments. The company is targeting MSMEs and businesses that report between Rs 10 crore and Rs 1,000 crore that is not served by bigger banks or neo-banks”, added Hemant Vishnoi.

“EnKash has stepped up to democratize access to the best-in-class software and payments. We believe that EnKash is poised to continue leading this growing $500 billion-plus market”, said, Subhasis Majumder, partner at Ascent Capital.

Presently the company has around 70,000 businesses and has issued 5 lakh cards to date. In 2019, the startup raised $3 million in its series A funding round from Mayfield and Axilor Ventures.