Anil Goteti’s Scapia raises $9 million in seed capital from Matrix, Tanglin, Binny Bansal's fund

Scapia, a startup founded by Anil Goteti, a former senior executive at Flipkart, has raised $9 million (around Rs 73 crore) in its first round of funding, led by Matrix Partners India along with participation from Tanglin Venture Partners and Binny Bansal’s Three State Ventures.

HDFC CEO Keki Mistry also invested in the firm as an angel investor.

The seed funding stands out at a time when tech investors have been extremely cautious about deploying capital.


Both Matrix Partners and Tanglin Venture Partners were investors in Goteti’s previous startup Protonn which shut down and returned more than $9 million to its investors, ET had reported earlier.

Goteti, who headed some of Flipkart’s key businesses such as mobile phone, home and furniture categories, quit the e-commerce firm in November 2020 after an eight-year stint and set up Protonn the following year.

The startup could not find the right product-market fit, however, and the founders did not agree to pivot its business model.

Scapia, which features a credit card and an app, allows customers to earn points earned on card spends to be redeemed for flights and hotel stays worldwide. Goteti unveiled the card in partnership with Federal Bank earlier this month, which runs on the Visa network.

The Bengaluru-based firm will utilise the funds to scale up operations and invest in technological capabilities, it said in a statement.

“Millennials, with their considerable interest in travel, are looking for a primary card that can effectively reward them with travel benefits and perks.

In addition, they want a delightful app with transparency and service that they can trust,” Goteti said in the statement.

Scapia said its card also offers travel benefits such as zero forex mark-up and unlimited domestic lounge access with zero joining and annual fees.

Matrix Partners India managing director Vikram Vaidyanathan said, “We are big believers in transaction credit and creating unique user journeys combining commerce and financing.

Scapia has created one such user journey, enabling new travel experiences through a fintech suite of products, and a business model traversing both these sectors.”