Japan's incubate fund backs fintech startup Olly-credit

Japan’s Incubate Fund has invested an undisclosed amount in Delhi based startup Olly-Credit, a fintech startup that offers micro credit cards with a dynamic credit limit of upto Rs 20,000. This round of funding has also been contributed by Sandesh Kirkire, Former CEO of Kotak Mahindra Asset Management Company and Yogesh Chaudhary, Director, Jaipur Rugs.

Incubate had launched a $91 million fund two years ago for backing early-stage startups in India, North America and Asia. It invests in India out of a $5 million investment vehicle set up specifically for India investments. It has invested in seven Indian startups including co-living spaces startup StayAbode and B2B FMCG platform ShopKirana and usually invests in ticket sizes ranging from $200,000 to $500,000 in startups.

Nao Murakami, General Partner, Incubate Fund India said, “Olly is not a lending company but a credit card provider for masses. Lending and credit card are two different things and we think credit card is more convenient and could potentially be deeply tied into Indian masses daily life.”

Olly is a niche offering that works for blue collared employees aiding them with their month-end expenses on essentials like groceries and bill payments. The company in collaboration with DCB Bank targets employees of hospitality and healthcare sector with a starting salary of Rs. 11,000 to extend essential credit through micro credit-cards.

Ashwin Bhambri, the CEO of Olly said, “Traditionally banks offering credit-cards have targeted only the creamy-layer evident by the fact that there are just 16.4 million credit cards users in India. Every working Indian should have a credit card and never fall short of basic purchasing capacity for groceries, bill payments and other essentials.”

The company which follows a B2B2C user-acquisition model boasts of a corporate client list which includes Piccadily hotels, ITC Hotels, Cygnus Group of hospitals and Samsung.