India’s neobanking startup Jupiter acquires EasyPlan to expand user base

Jupiter EasyPlan neobank
Jupiter app on mobile. Image courtesy Jupiter

Neobanking startup Jupiter has acquired Y Combinator-backed EasyPlan to expand its user base and enhance its saving and investment capabilities. This is Jupiter’s second acquisition after it bought Mitter.io in 2019.

Mumbai-based EasyPlan is a financial saving app for individuals and was founded in 2017 by Harvard graduates Manisha Pandita and Sanjay Gandhi in 2017. It helps young professionals to invest safely in mutual funds. 

EasyPlan, which added over 250,000 users, was part of the inaugural batch of the Bharat Inclusion Initiative’s Financial Inclusion Lab in 2019 and was later chosen by the Silicon Valley accelerator Y-Combinator in 2020. 

Jitendra Gupta, the founder of Jupiter, said that EasyPlan would continue to operate as an independent app. “They have joined us already, along with the founders…we were impressed with the customer love that Easyplan has generated. And there was a lot of overlap between our missions and philosophy to drive financial wellness,” Gupta was quoted as saying by the Economic Times.

“At Jupiter, we’re trying to help people build a more positive relationship with money, and effective saving is an important part of that. We’re excited for Sanjay and Manisha to bring the same customer insight and technology excellence to Jupiter,” Gupta added.

“We look forward to doing that on a larger scale with Jupiter. Jiten is one of the most respected tech founders in India, and we’re looking forward to working with him,” EasyPlan co-founder Pandita said.

Bengaluru-based Jupiter started with a $24 million seed funding round in 2019 and is now backed by Sequoia Capital India, 3one4 Capital, Tanglin Venture Partners. Cred and Snapdeal founders had also invested in the startup. It again raised $2 million last year.

The startup, which is developing a bouquet of products to drive financial wellness for consumers, is yet to roll out its product for everyone. It has already seen close to 40,000 individuals signing up for the waitlist for its launch.

Gupta recently told the media that Jupiter is aiming to reach more than a million customers in a year’s time.

There are around 12 neobanks in India, with Open, RazorpayX and Niyo being prominent ones. In addition, global neobank Revolut is also planning to enter the Indian market.

While the Indian neo-bank market is still in the nascent stages, the global market was worth $18.6 billion in 2018 and is expected to accelerate at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of around 46.5% between 2019 and 2026, generating around $394.6 billion by 2026.

As per reports, Amazon, Google and Visa are looking to foray into India’s neo-banking space through investment in a Bengaluru-based startup, Open, which is looking to raise to $200 million at a valuation of $600-$700 million.

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