India has emerged as one of the key global fintech hubs and is also amongst the top three countries with the highest number of fintech startups over the last few years.
As per YourStory data, fintech and financial services startups raised more than $7 billion across 239 deals - pointing to a thriving startup ecosystem.
Over the next few years, many of these companies would be at growth stage and Beams Fintech Fund is perfectly positioned to help these growth stage fintech companies in India and build some very large companies at the intersection of finance, technology and services, said Navin Surya.
Beams Fintech Fund, a $100 million fund launched by India’s largest early-stage investment firm Venture Catalysts Group, has roped in Navin Surya, a fintech veteran and industry expert as a Fintech Expert Partner and Founding Member (non-executive), to help with the fund platform strategy and mentor the portfolio companies for their next phase of growth.
Navin has over 20 years of experience in the fintech space and has built large businesses including ItzCash (acquired by Ebix Inc. for over Rs 1000 crore in 2016) and is currently the founder of an Umbrella Entity License applicant that aspires to make digital payments effortless and seamless. Navin is also the Non-executive Chairman of Fintech Convergence Council of India & Chairman (Emeritus), Payments Council of India, India. He is also an investor in over a dozen tech and fintech startups.
In his role as a Fintech Expert Partner and Advisor to the Investment Committee of Beams, Navin will be providing guidance for the fund platform strategy, advising on potential investments, and mentorship of the Beams portfolio companies on their growth plans, and overall strategy.
Observing the importance of Beams for a Fintech market like India, Navin Surya, said, "We founded Beams to fill the gap in the growth stage ecosystem of the fintech space in India. Despite financial services being the largest sector in India, and fintech’s increasingly partnering with banks and financial institutions, there are no fintech-focussed or fintech experts growth stage funds. Therefore, we set out to create a platform which is not only an equity investing platform for high quality founders and companies, but also to provide an ecosystem of capital, strategic guidance, relationships, partnerships and network that we all have built over the years in the financial services space. Some of these are unique to Beams beyond capital – which is provided by most venture capital funds.”
He further added that Beams is well-positioned as the only 100% fintech-focused platform to leverage its knowledge on the sector and support requirements at the growth stages of the portfolio companies in India.
“The fund provides an opportunity to invest in high-quality innovators who are solving important financial services problems for businesses and consumers. We are in very exciting times since India is emerging as a Global Fintech hub and have produced multiple high growth and high value companies, we sincerely hope to accelerate this journey,” he said.
Beams’ goal is to develop market leaders in India's fintech revolution by assisting entrepreneurs in developing enterprise solutions for the financial services industry, disrupting the traditional manner of providing financial services to customers and enterprises. The founding team is already in the advanced phases of its first close and making a couple of investments, being backed by banks, NBFCs, fintechs, and marquee fintech entrepreneurs, family offices, and UHNIs from the Indian and global investor pool.
Beams will be investing in growth stages of financial technology companies led by high quality entrepreneurs. It will invest on an average $8-$10 million in Series B, and C rounds of fintech startups, with a target fund size of $100 million, and a green-shoe option. It aims to develop a concentrated portfolio of a dozen fintech firms in a market that is currently worth $75 billion and has potential for very high growth and scalability.
Beams Fintech Fund, the country’s first and only India-focused Growth Capital Fintech fund provides an ecosystem, value-addition, and the capital to help the fintech innovators for tomorrow.
Beams is co-founded by Fintech veteran Sagar Agarwal and Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Anuj Golecha, Anil Jain, Gaurav Jain. The founding team has invested in and helped built fintech startups such as BharatPe, Dukaan, Flobiz, Esskay, Impact Guru, Suryoday, Centrum, OTO Capital, Klub, GetVantage, LenDenClub, LiquiLoans, and Junio among others.
Beams has a founder-first approach, focusing on providing funding and ecosystem assistance to help entrepreneurs grow large, successful financial companies. It would establish a network of local and international banks, insurance firms, NBFCs, fintechs, mentors, and advisors to help its portfolio companies not only access financing at reasonable rates, but also accelerate their growth and scale strategy in India and beyond. In addition, through the Incubate Hub, Beams would provide access to VCAT's 250+ portfolio companies and 195+ corporates for partnership opportunities which would be unique to Beams’ fund portfolio companies.