PC: Grapevine
Centricity, a Gurugram-based fast-growing wealth-tech startup, has raised $20 million in its seed funding round led by Lightspeed. The funding round also saw participation from Paramark VC, along with existing investors like the Burman Family Office, Shantanu Agarwal, and prominent angel investors including Ritesh Agarwal, Vishal Dhupar, and the MS Dhoni Family Office.
This recent funding milestone is a big deal for Centricity, which last raised money in a $4 million pre-seed round in September 2022. The new capital brings its valuation to $125 million-a sixfold increase over the $20 million valuation it commanded when it raised its pre-seed funding, the company said.
This will be used to scale the two flagship platforms, Invictus and One Digital, with investments in key technology and talent. Improving private banking services and making strategic acquisitions, if any, are also in the pipeline.
Centricity aims to double its tech development team from 75 to more than 150 professionals, principally to further develop generative AI-driven modules, insurtech solutions, and innovative broking-tech platforms. It puts Centricity in a strategic place for increased efficiencies and better outcomes through technological advancement in the services it will offer to both financial advisors and clients alike.
Centricity was founded by Manu Awasthy early in 2022 and stands apart because, on this platform, plug-and-play solutions are offered for E2E. In essence, financial advisors can have easy access to multiple financial products on the platform, and at the same time, it eases out the complexities associated with managing financial portfolios.
This indeed would be the overarching strategy through which Centricity attempts to make FPDs and SFOs operationally more efficient while simultaneously constituting a disruption force in the wealthtech landscape.
The wealth management space in India has grown well, with venture capitalists infusing a reasonable amount of money into the industry during the last year. According to information from data intelligence platform TheKredible, various wealthtech startups in the country have raised over $200 million across 12 deals, starting from October of the previous year.
Leading the pack is Neo, backed by Peak XV, with an impressive funding of $48 million. Mumbai-based Dezerv raised $32 million in its Series B round, and Singapore-based Syfe-which also has a technology hub in Gurugram-raised $27 million last month. Other major raisers in this category include Stable Money, Fisdom, InvestorAi, Wealthy, Powder, Infynite Club, and Vijya Fintech. These further underscore strong investor interest in innovation in wealthtech.
With this serious seed funding in place to drive further innovation, market presence, and increased value for its growing clientele base, Centricity is now in a very good place that will further cement its position within the dynamic wealthtech landscape.
