Pune-based iServe Financial Pvt. Ltd, which runs an online and offline customised financial services and solutions business, has raised an undisclosed amount in seed investment from a group of investors, including Nilesh Shah (CEO of Kotak Mutual Fund). iServe plans to use the funds to further improve its online platform's reach and penetration to take on bigger rivals such as BankBazaar and PaisaBazaar.
The company was set up in June 2014 and its founders include Dipak Samanta, Rahul Bhaik, Krishna Iyer, and Sasanka Panda. Its core goal is to serve the financial needs of consumers across retail loan, investment, and protection solutions.
Dipak has extensive experience in financial services and the distribution business and has worked in multiple markets in India. Prior to starting iServe, Dipak has worked with a leading financial distributor in India and several banks; Rahul has worked for Citibank, SCB & ICICI Bank across multiple business verticals and geographies over the last 15 years.
Krishna Iyer is an IIM-A alumni and has worked at ICICI and Cognizant while Sasanka Panda who graduated from IIT-Kharagpur has worked in tier 1 consulting firms such as E and Y, BearingPoint, etc. in US and WNS in India. The four founders have over 60 years of collective experience among them in the financial services, banking and technology domain.
"There is a gap in the market between traditional offline players like Andromeda and new online players like BankBazaar, leaving the consumers scrambling between information search online and fulfilment offline. This has been a recurring theme in our conversation with both our customers and our banking principals. We are building iServe to bridge this gap in the market", said Dipak Samanta the CEO.
In addition to deep product insights and advice on its online platform iservefinancial.com, the company has a remarkable offline presence with over 25 offices pan India and over 250 associates. Over the past few quarters iServe claims to have serviced over 5000 customers and helped them raise over $200 mm in mortgage, personal loans and business loans from over 30 leading banks and NBFCs across India.
"Financial advice and solutions is a huge market ripe for digitization, disruption and consolidation. As more and more consumers turn affluent, they are looking for savvy, new-age wealth partners that can help serve their needs across their assets, liabilities and protection needs. The iServe team brings a great blend of financial and technology knowledge, expertise, aggression, and seamless execution to the marketplace", said Nilesh Shah.
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"I am impressed with the vision and execution of the leadership team at iServe. I believe they have the potential to consolidate a very fragmented distribution market with their forward looking management philosophy. I wish them all the best in their exciting journey," said Harish Pandeya, an Advisor to the company.
iServe Financial recently celebrated its second anniversary in the presence of Serial Entrepreneur Harish Pandeya, Nilesh Shah and others.
The domestic mortgage market is about USD 600 billion while the domestic insurance market is estimated at about USD 70 billion. IIFL(W) recently attracted investment from General Atlantic Partners as it consolidates wealth management. Similarly, BankBazaar and PaisaBazaar continue to attract investment as they democratise the information search phase while waiting for the market to evolve when transactions could be consummated online.