Oxyzo is a B2B commerce platform that became India’s latest unicorn on Wednesday after being valued at USD 1 billion. The company was founded by husband-wife team Ruchi Kalra and Ashish Mohapatra.
In India, two start-ups founded by a husband and wife team have become unicorns. Oxyzo Financial Services, a B2B commerce platform founded by Ruchi Kalra and Asish Mohapatra, joined India’s Unicorn club on Wednesday, with a valuation of USD 1 billion. Ruchi Kalra and Ashish’s OfBusiness became a unicorn in July 2021 after raising $160 million from SoftBank Vision Fund 2. Oxyzo is the 12th start-up of 2022 and the 98th start-up in India to join the prestigious Unicorn club. Alpha Wave led the series A, which was co-led by Tiger Global, Norwest Venture Partners, Matrix Partners, and Creation Investments.
The financial arm of OfBusiness Group’s financing platform, which provides cash flow matching working capital loans for SMEs in traditional areas of the economy such as manufacturing and subcontracting, was India’s latest unicorn. However, over time, it diversified and, as a result, enlarged its consumer base. Oxyzo managed to merge assets worth USD 350 million with minimal effort, and its expansion has been unstoppable since.
India’s newest Unicorn club employs over 500 people and operates a data warehouse focusing on supply chain analytics. It has just introduced fixed income, and its securities business line has generated a total market volume of more than $1.6 billion in the previous six months.
Kalra, 38, and Mohapatra, 41, are both Indian Institute of Technology graduates who met while working at McKinsey & Co. Both firms are profitable, which is remarkable for a new growing company. Mohapatra is the CEO of OfBusiness, whereas Kalra is the CEO of Oxyzo.
Oxyzo was also funded by Matrix Partners and Creation Investments is one of the largest Series A deals in India’s startup industry.
When it first opened its doors in 2017, Oxyzo Financial Services was a division of the business. OfBusiness is another of the husband-wife partnership Ruchi and Ashish’s start-ups, which they started in 2016. OfBusiness is a start-up that provides small and medium-sized enterprises with bulk raw materials such as steel, fuel, food grains, and industrial chemicals. It has investors such as Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global Management, and SoftBank, and it recently raised USD 325 million.
“Both business and Oxyzo have a strong borrowing profile enjoying confidence across 50+ financial institutions,” Asish Mohapatra, OfBusiness Group CEO, said
Meanwhile, his wife and co-founder Ruchi Kalra, who is the CEO of Oxyzo said, “With the emergence of the digital economy, we see a marked shift in the emerging needs and servicing approach in the B2B segment. We want to be at the forefront of this as a diversified financial services company, differentiated through its innovative financial products and digital platforms on the back of strong credit and origination capabilities.”
Other Unicorns in India include Mama Earth, Byjus, Uniphore, Xpressbees, Amagi, Cred Avenue, and Livspace, which have a valuation of at least USD 1 billion or more.
