VCs, Fintech Startups Tap Retail Investors' Bond Craze

Groww, Stable Money, Grip Invest and Wint Wealth are among companies riding the wave

- Mansi Verma

After mutual funds, individual stocks and popular fixed-income products such as fixed deposits, venture capital (VC) firms and India's wealthtech companies are clamoring to tap a relatively niche instrument that's been growing in popularity among investors—bonds.

Groww, Stable Money, Grip Invest and Wint Wealth are among companies that are riding the wave, looking to cash in on bond investments.

Grip Invest, a Series A wealthtech company, is in talks with Orios Venture Partners and existing investors to raise almost $8 million, two persons aware of the development told Mint. Wint Wealth is also exploring early conversations for its next round of funding with new backers, two persons said.

Grip Invest did not comment on the development. Ajinkya Mukund Kulkarni, Wint Wealth's co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) confirmed there was investor interest, but said the company was still exploring this and hadn't actively started pursuing its next round of funding.

Two other companies eyeing the space, IndiaBonds and Bondbazaar, have also begun funding talks with VCs, two persons told Mint. IndiaBonds declined to comment on the fundraise, while queries sent to Bondbazaar did not elicit a response at the time of publishing this story.