slice, leading credit card challenger, has successfully raised $220 million in a Series B round that values the company at over $1 billion.
The round was led by high-profile investors Tiger Global and New York-based global private equity and venture capital Insight Partners. New and existing investors including Advent International’s Sunley House Capital, Moore Strategic Ventures, Anfa, Gunosy, Blume Ventures, and 8i also participated in the round.
Even as most individuals in India have bank accounts and debit cards, only a sliver of this banking population has access to credit cards, which is less than 35 million according to industry estimates. Moreover, the nation’s young credit-rating system covers only a tiny fraction of this population, making it tediously challenging for them to own a credit card.
slice is addressing credit card awareness and usability in India through its slice super card, a prepaid visa card with a credit line that allows hundreds of millions of Indians to enjoy credit card-like benefits as well as to build their credit score.
Rajan Bajaj, Founder & CEO, slice, said, “Since the inception of the company, we’ve held a considerably different point of view from a typical start-up. The idea has never been to burn capital and acquire users forcefully, but to set up a sustainable and robust business. We’ve kept our heads down in the initial years and focused solely on simplifying the consumer journey and creating a cutting-edge risk underwriting system.”
“Our far superior product experience has made us the most popular alternative to existing credit cards. It has also enabled us to serve not only the population with credit history, but also the massive new-to-credit population that banks have not penetrated. Being able to marry both product experience and risk excellence together, at scale, is what sets us apart.”
Alex Cook, Partner at Tiger Global, said, “slice has built a product that customers love, which we expect will result in continued growth and market share gains. We are excited to partner with Rajan and the team as they expand access to credit and deliver best-in-class customer experience.”
Also Read: Fintech start-up slice raises $20mn to challenge the credit card industry in India
“slice targets an underpenetrated market in India and seamlessly allows users to make online payments, pay bills and more.” said Deven Parekh, Managing Director at Insight Partners. “There is a large opportunity in the credit and payment space in India, and slice is well-positioned to become the leader in the industry. We look forward to this partnership with slice as they continue to scale up and grow.”
Rajan adds, “While we are very proud of the product that we’ve created and the exponential growth of our company since the launch of slice super card, there’s still a long way to go. We attribute this achievement to the talented and resilient team working day and night to make this possible. We’re excited to partner with Tiger Global, Insight Partners, and other new investors as we continue to grow. Watch out for us as we silently and steadily become a common household name.”
