Prosus In Talks To Lead $50 Mn Funding In Fintech Startup Jar

Jar Set To Foray Into P2P Lending Space, Tests Product For Select Users

SUMMARY

The Naspers' Dutch-listed investment arm has expanded its deal pipeline in India, marking its third major fintech and financing investment after Mintifi and Vastu Housing Finance

This comes close on the heels of Jar bagging $22.6 Mn in its Series B funding round at a post-money valuation of $300 Mn from Tiger Global, and Eximius Ventures, among others

Founded in January 2021 by Nischay and Misbah Ashraf, Jar operates a mobile-based app, which allows users to invest as little as INR 1. It claims to have more than 1.5 Cr users on the platform

Global investment giant Prosus is reportedly in discussions to lead a $50 Mn (INR 4242 Cr) funding round in fintech startup Jar.

The Naspers’ Dutch-listed investment arm has expanded its deal pipeline in India, marking its third major fintech and financing investment after Mintifi and Vastu Housing Finance.

Additionally, it backed IPO-bound jewellery brand Bluestone earlier this year.

“The due diligence is underway and Prosus, through its venture arm, is likely to lead the new funding round,” a person aware of the matter told ET, adding that the final contours of the deal may still evolve as other investors may also join the round.

Founded in January 2021 by Nischay and Misbah Ashraf, Jar operates a mobile-based app, which allows users to invest as little as INR 1. It claims to have more than 1.5 Cr users on the platform.

This comes close on the heels of Jar bagging $22.6 Mn in its Series B funding round at a post-money valuation of $300 Mn from Tiger Global, and Eximius Ventures, among others. It recently partnered PhonePe to roll out a new ‘Daily Savings’ feature to spur the purchase of digital gold.

Jar has so far raised more than $61 Mn since inception in 2021.

“Not only gold, they (Jar) are also selling lab grown diamonds. There is a strong affinity to buy jewellery as an investment and that’s why Jar launched its own brand. Its gross sale run-rate hit INR 100 Cr in October,” a person aware of the matter told ET.

Replying to Inc42’s query on the development, Prosus said, “The ET story today is based on speculations, and we do not comment on such market rumours.”

The development comes days after Prosus invested $79.9 Mn in fintech startup Mintifi in October to acquire a 10.65% equity stake. Besides Mintifi, the Dutch investor also invested $100 Mn for an 8.4% equity in Vastu Housing Finance in the same month.

Meesho, Elastic Run and Eruditus are among its other large bets in India. It also runs PayU in India.

For Prosus, the investments in Indian entities coincided with the public debut of its earliest India investment, Swiggy.

The foodtech giant entered the stock market on November 13, with its shares listing on the BSE at INR 412 apiece—a 6% premium over its IPO price of INR 390.

Prosus sold 109.09 Mn shares in Swiggy via the IPO, raking in approximately $500 Mn. “The internal rate of return (IRR) of our stake in Swiggy, based on the IPO price and the net proceeds of the stake we sold, was 18%,” the group said in its H1 report.

Buoyed by the strong returns it made from the Swiggy IPO, it was reported last month that the investor has now set eyes on the IPO of its fintech company PayU’s India arm in 2025. Prosus’ chief investment officer Ervin Tu said in November that the investor is eyeing the best time for the IPO.

Besides PayU, Prosus also sees potential public listings for Meesho and BlueStone materialising in the next 18 months. It also expects Eruditus, Captain Fresh, Mintifi, Vastu and Mensa as potential IPO candidates in the future.