Fintech firm LegalPay gets funding from US hegde fund Hedonova

Mumbai: LegalPay, a tech-driven alternative-investments platform specialising in insolvency, legal and debt financing, has raised an undisclosed amount from US hedge fund Hedonova as part of its pre-series A funding round.

The investment is an extension to LegalPay’s earlier round in December that was led by Venture Catalysts and Amity Technology Incubator. Hedonova is an alternative-investment hedge fund that invests in multiple asset classes such as art, unicorn startups, wine, equipment finance, ligation finance, music, and a few more. In the past, Hedonova has invested in startups such as SpaceX, Swiggy, Robinhood and Flexport among others.

“The deep-expertise that Hedonova brings on the table for massive over 12 asset classes is something we look forward to partner and grow together at exponential pace. We are aggressively growing in the Indian market and such strategic partnerships will not only fuel our growth at a faster pace but also provide investors with more opportunities to invest,” LegalPay’s founder and CEO Kundan Shahi said.


Founded in 2020, LegalPay competes with restructuring giants such as Edelweiss, KKR, Eight Capital, which generally focusses on high-ticket transactions. Interim Finance under IBC, 2016 is short-term super-secure financing that allows an insolvent company to remain operational while undergoing the Corporate Insolvency Resolution Process (CIRP).

“The Fed's interest rate hikes coupled with frothy emerging market valuations are going to attract institutional capital back to the US leading to underperforming equity markets. India's high savings rate is rapidly being mobilized into financial assets and alternative assets are gaining momentum. LegalPay's team has the required professional experience, high strength of character, and the drive to capture the alternative investment market in India,” said Suman Banerjee, founder of Hedonova.

LegalPay has so far launched two sector based Interim Finance SPV— real-estate focused Interim Finance SPV under IBC, 2016 with ticket size as low as Rs10,000 and a healthcare focused SPV. LegalPay targets mid-market companies, including MSMEs, undergoing insolvencies, requiring Rs 10 lakh - Rs 5 crore. It competes with restructuring firms such as Edelweiss, KKR, Eight capital, which generally focus on high-ticket transactions within insolvency.

It is backed by venture capital firms such as 9Unicorns and LetsVenture and marquee angels, including Ashwini Kakkar, ex-chair via.com, and Ambarish Gupta ex-founder of Knowlarity, among others.