Indian Fintech Gives Out $1 Billion a Year in Gold-Backed Loans
- Rupeek raises $34 million from investors including Lightbox
- Valuation of Bangalore-based startup reaches $634 million
A Rupeek Fintech Pvt. agent weighs a gold necklace on a digital scale during the processing of a customer's gold loan application in Mumbai, India.
Photographer: Dhiraj Singh/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Rupeek Fintech Pvt, a startup that lends against gold as collateral, raised $34 million to accelerate its efforts to monetize India’s $1.5 trillion private stash of the precious metal.
The Bangalore-based firm, whose technology links nearly a dozen banks to individual borrowers, received backing from investors including Lightbox, GGV Capital and Bertelsmann, taking its valuation to $634 million with $134 million raised so far. Rupeek’s annual loan disbursement rate was $1 billion in December, a first among India’s asset-backed lending startups, according to a statement Tuesday.