Latest news with #ZipLoans
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Dhan's funding nears close; BNPL gets regulated out
Dhan's funding nears close; BNPL gets regulated out Also in the letter: Dhan closes in on $200 million fundraise from Chrys Cap, Alpha Wave, MUFG Driving the news: Deal details: The fundraise includes a mix of primary capital and secondary share sales The round values Dhan at $1.1 billion, making it India's fifth unicorn of 2025. Google and Amazon may come in through a smaller follow-on round. Dhan, in numbers: Active traders: 971,000, as of March 2025 971,000, as of March 2025 Net profit: Rs 155 crore in FY24, against loss of Rs 22 crore in FY23 Rs 155 crore in FY24, against loss of Rs 22 crore in FY23 Revenue: Rs 380 crore in FY24, 600% up from Rs 54.2 crore in FY23. Zoom out: BNPL hits the brakes as fintechs pivot to EMI loans and traditional consumer credit Losing takers: PayU has migrated LazyPay into a KYC-compliant EMI checkout solution. Paytm shut down its BNPL product last year. Mobikwik has discontinued Zip Loans, according to its FY25 earnings disclosure. Simpl remains one of the few major players still active in the BNPL space. Quote, unquote: Zoom out: Also Read: Bigger story intact: What's changed is the format: Sponsor ETtech Top 5 & Morning Dispatch! Why it matters: The opportunity: Reach a highly engaged audience of decision-makers. Boost your brand's visibility among the tech-savvy community. Custom sponsorship options to align with your brand's goals. What's next: VCs sniff opportunity as petcare expands beyond food Funding frenzy: On Monday, Nestlé SA announced a minority investment in Drools, making it a unicorn. Supertails, backed by Fireside Ventures, is in talks to raise $24–25 million in fresh funding. Gurugram-based veterinary care startup Vetic recently raised $26 million in a round led by Bessemer Venture Partners. Industry outlook: Over the past five years, petcare startups in India have secured $198 million across 20 deals. The Indian petcare market, currently valued at $3.5 billion, is projected to double to $7–7.5 billion by 2028. Pet ownership has grown steadily, with the number of pets in Indian households rising from 26 million in 2019 to an estimated 32 million by 2024. Tell me more: Pet parents are moving beyond need-based purchases, increasingly spending on grooming products, clothing, toys, and more. While the market is currently dominated by Mars, the maker of Pedigree and Royal Canin, D2C brands are rapidly gaining ground. Quick commerce is fueling growth, enabling faster access to pet supplies and expanding consumer demand, according to industry experts. Ex-intel, AMD executives throw hat into AI semicon ring Tell me more: Four Texas Instruments executives launched C2i Semiconductors, which is building hardware designed to reduce energy consumption in chips. Bodhi Computing, founded by Intel veterans Sambit Sahu and Raghuraman Barathalwar, was acquired by Krutrim in 2023. Agrani Labs, set up in Bengaluru by four ex-Intel and AMD executives, is working on India's own AI chip designs. Zoom out: Other Top Stories By Our Reporters TCS paid CEO K Krithivasan Rs 26.5 crore in FY25: Zetwerk sharpens focus on capital goods equipment business: Karnataka to issue draft gig workers' welfare rules in two weeks: L Catterton to raise $600 million for its first India-dedicated fund: Snabbit raises $19 million to fund expansion: Global Picks We Are Reading Happy Thursday! Stock broking startup Dhan is poised to finalise its long-awaited funding round. This and more in today's ETtech Morning Dispatch.■ Petcare opportunity■ Veterans enter AI chip space■ TCS CEO pay hikePravin Jadhav, founder, DhanOnline investment platform Dhan is set to close a $190–200 million funding round , making it the latest entrant to the coveted unicorn Mumbai-based startup is finalising a new round led by ChrysCapital, with participation from Alpha Wave and Japanese financial services giant MUFG. Sunil Bharti Mittal's family office and Dream11 founder Harsh Jain, an existing investor, will also join the fundraise comes as Groww, India's largest stockbroker by active clients, gears up for an IPO . While many peers have lost ground, Dhan has grown its user base, thanks to a profitable business model and a sharp focus on sticky, high-frequency power management startups are navigating a choppy start to 2025, amid tighter regulations on F&O trading and a post-bull market cooldown. Dhan, however, is bucking the pay-later (BNPL) products are losing momentum amid regulatory tightening and growing concerns over credit quality.'Fintechs are finding that instalment financing is still viable, but only through a regulated, KYC-compliant setup. The shift is forcing many players to abandon pure-play BNPL and embrace structured EMI lending,' a senior executive at a large fintech company told us on the condition of credit tightening goes beyond fintechs. Banks and NBFCs — key partners in BNPL lending — are pulling back due to rising macroeconomic risks and growing exposure to unsecured Vysya Bank, which backs Amazon's BNPL programme, struck a cautious tone during its recent analyst call, noting it has tightened onboarding the pivot, industry insiders say the broader story of unsecured consumer credit growth remains industry is shifting away from short-term, low-ticket loans with loose underwriting towards EMI-based products with complete Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, longer tenures, and stronger risk Top 5 and Morning Dispatch are must-reads for India's tech and business leaders, including startup founders, investors, policy makers, industry insiders and Reach out to us at spotlightpartner@ to explore sponsorship opportunities.A post-Covid surge in pet adoption, the expansion of petcare services, and the rise of quick commerce are drawing both venture capital and strategic investors to India's growing petcare a dozen senior professionals from tech giants such as Intel, AMD, and Texas Instruments, each with 15-20 years of experience, are now leading AI semiconductor startups in is rapidly emerging as a hub for chip design and development, with increasing momentum to establish comprehensive, full-stack semiconductor ecosystems. Startups beyond the AI space have also drawn investor interest in the past year, including Mindgrove Technologies, InCore, and Agnit Semiconductors.K Krithivasan , CEO, TCSTata Consultancy Services (TCS) paid its chief executive, K Krithivasan, Rs 26.5 crore in the financial year 2025 , representing a 4.6% increase from the previous fiscal year. This total includes a base salary of Rs 1.4 crore, benefits, allowances, and prerequisites worth Rs 2.13 crore, as well as Rs 23 crore in manufacturer Zetwerk has launched a dedicated division within its electronics manufacturing branch, aimed at producing equipment and capital goods Karnataka will release draft rules on charging a fee on online platforms to fund welfare programmes for gig workers in about two weeks, state labour minister Santosh Lad told us, a day after Governor Thaawarchand Gehlot approved an ordinance to this L Catterton is raising $600 million for its inaugural India-focused fund, marking the first time a global private equity firm has launched an investment vehicle specifically for the Indian home services app Snabbit has raised $19 million in a funding round led by Lightspeed. The new capital will be used to expand into new micro-markets and strengthen the team amid rising demand.■ If algorithms radicalize a mass shooter, are companies to blame? ( The Verge ■ Grand Theft Auto publisher swaps DEI for 'Diversity of Thought' in annual report ( Wired ■ Microsoft starts testing Copilot for Gaming in Xbox app for iOS and Android ( TechCrunch
Time of India
3 days ago
- Business
- Time of India
Buy-now-pay-later offerings wane as fintechs pivot to EMI loans, consumer credit
Buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, which became a hot trend in consumer fintech a few years ago, are falling out of favour. What began as a way to let millions of Indians without credit cards access instant, short-term loans has come under pressure due to regulatory tightening and rising concerns over credit quality. Now, most of the large fintechs are either shutting down BNPL offerings or transitioning to equated monthly instalment (EMI)-based lending to stay compliant and manage risks, people in the know told ET. ETtech Prosus-backed PayU, which operates non-banking finance company PayU Finance , has migrated its BNPL platform LazyPay into a KYC (know your customer)-compliant EMI checkout solution, according to the sources. The company has phased out the earlier BNPL model where customers could split payments without undergoing intensive KYC checks. 'Fintechs are finding that instalment financing is still viable, but only through a regulated, KYC-compliant setup,' said a senior executive at a large fintech company, requesting not to be named. 'The shift is forcing many players to abandon pure-play BNPL and embrace structured EMI lending.' Discover the stories of your interest Blockchain 5 Stories Cyber-safety 7 Stories Fintech 9 Stories E-comm 9 Stories ML 8 Stories Edtech 6 Stories Market exits accelerate The pivot follows the complete shutdown of Paytm Postpaid , its BNPL offering, earlier this year. Around the same time, Mobikwik said in its FY25 earnings disclosure that it had discontinued Zip Loans, its BNPL product. At its peak in the September 2023 quarter, Paytm disbursed about Rs 9,000 crore worth of postpaid loans. In comparison, Mobikwik's Zip Loans disbursals stood at Rs 1,000 crore in the September 2024 quarter. Both companies are now focused on transitioning BNPL users to longer-tenure EMI products, which allow for more structured repayment and clearer risk management for lenders. A typical BNPL product earlier allowed users to club multiple purchases and repay in 15–30 days, often with little documentation. These models have now largely disappeared from the market. One of the few remaining major players in this space is Simpl , which has avoided regulatory entanglements by staying outside the formal lending ecosystem. 'We're not offering loans to our customers. We're fighting cash-on-delivery in ecommerce, food delivery and quick commerce by building a model of trust around payments and delivery of products,' said Nityanand Sharma, founder of Simpl. The startup does not partner with regulated entities, allowing it to sidestep direct RBI scrutiny. Sharma said most competitors used BNPL to acquire customers and cross-sell credit, which triggered regulatory pushback. Lenders play it safe The tightening credit environment isn't just a fintech story. Banks and NBFCs, which were the backbone of many BNPL offerings, have pulled back from the space as macroeconomic risks mount and unsecured lending portfolios swell. Also Read: Listed fintechs feel the pinch of lenders going slow on unsecured lending 'In view of elevated household leverage, we are cautious in ramping up this (BNPL) book. We've tightened onboarding norms and will review periodically,' said B Ramesh Babu, CEO of Karur Vysya Bank , on a recent analyst call. The bank, which partners with Amazon for its BNPL programme, had a book of Rs 844 crore at the end of FY25. Amazon itself signalled a shift earlier this year by announcing the $200-million acquisition of Axio , its BNPL fintech partner, indicating a desire to internalise credit capabilities. A senior banker working with multiple fintech platforms said, 'In this macro-financial environment, banks are becoming more risk-averse. We're focusing on affluent customers and aim to grow our unsecured book by about 25% year-on-year, but with tight controls.' Bigger story still intact Despite the pullback, industry insiders believe the larger narrative of unsecured consumer credit growth in India remains intact. What's changing is the form and structure. Rather than short-term, low-ticket loans with lax underwriting, the focus is shifting to EMI-based products with robust risk management, longer tenures and full KYC compliance. Many fintechs are now building checkout EMI infrastructure that mimics traditional consumer durable financing but with a digital-first interface. These products can integrate directly with ecommerce platforms and offer 3–12 month payment options, backed by formal lenders. The transformation also aligns with the Reserve Bank of India 's broader agenda to bring fintech lending under tighter regulatory oversight. ET had reported on May 27 that the RBI has clamped down on default loss guarantee (DLG) structures and instructed lenders to avoid overexposure to risky, thin-file consumers. End of pure-play BNPL 'Pure-play BNPL without proper credit assessment or regulatory partnership is effectively dead,' said a fintech founder, who has pivoted to EMI loans . 'What's emerging is a more sustainable, compliant version of embedded finance.' For now, BNPL's rapid rise appears to have hit a regulatory and risk ceiling. The next phase of growth in India's consumer credit story could be more measured, regulated, and tenure-driven.
