Nearly two weeks after investing in NCDs, Sachin Bansal invests Rs 50 cr debt in consumer lending startup Kissht

Nearly two weeks after he invested about Rs 200 crore in Piramal Enterprises in the form of NCDs, Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has made a debt investment of Rs 50 crore in consumer lending startup Kissht. This investment in Kissht is part of Bansal’s overall focus on the fast-growing fintech sector, including non-banking financial services companies (NBFCs) such as Kissht, said a report in The Times of India quoting people aware of the development. Kissht is operated by Onemi Technology Solutions. It was founded in 2015 by former McKinsey consultants Krishnan Vishwanathan and Ranvir Singh. [caption id=“attachment_4463873” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Sachin Bansal, co-founder, Flipkart. File photo. Reuters[/caption] Bansal went home rich with his over $1 billion fortune from the sale of Flipkart. In an ask-me-anything (AMA) session in Bengaluru, the TOI report said,  Bansal had said he had chosen fintech and the broader financial services sector as his next focus area. Bansal’s debt investment in Kissht is reportedly convertible to equity if any repayment issues arise, which is unlikely to happen, said a report in Mint quoting a person in the know of the matter. The investment has been made through BAC Acquisitions, the company from which Bansal invests, the report said. On 15 July, Bansal reportedly invested about Rs 200 crore in the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) of Piramal Enterprises, media reports said. The Flipkart co-founder reportedly subscribed to the non-convertible debentures (NCDs) worth Rs 200 crore issued by Piramal Enterprises, which has business interests in pharma and financial services. Bansal, who founded Flipkart over a decade ago with Binny Bansal, had quit after US retail behemoth Walmart picked up 77 percent stake in the Indian e-commerce company for $16 billion last year. In May this year, Bansal had announced an investment of $32 million in electric vehicle manufacturer Ather Energy, which had raised $51 million in its latest round of funding. Ather Energy was one of the earliest startup investments of Bansal when he invested $0.5 million in the firm as an angel investor in 2014. Since 2014, Bansal has made 18 investments in local, early-stage startups where the deal size was $1-2 million. In 2019, Bansal invested $100 million in Ola Cabs. Bansal also had investments in Grey Orange, SigTuple, Inshorts, Unacademy and TeamIndus. In April this year, there were reports that Bansal had plans to acquire 75 percent stake in Bengaluru-based microfinance firm Chaitanya Rural. The reports claimed that he might even take the post of the chief executive officer (CEO) following the successful transaction. In February, Bansal invested about Rs 650 crore in Ola, giving the Indian ride-hailing company more ammunition to compete with rival Uber. The investment was in Bansal’s personal capacity and was also the largest financing by an individual in Ola till the date. In January, Ola had issued shares worth Rs 150 crore to Sachin as part of series J round of funding. — With PTI inputs