TransBnk, a Mumbai based Transaction Banking Platform, has successfully raised $4 million in Series A funding. The round was led by 8i Ventures, the early-stage India-focused VC fund known for its notable successes in the fintech space, including M2P, Slice, Easebuzz, among others.
The round was co-led by Accion Venture Lab, a global impact investor backing early-stage fintech startups that expand financial access worldwide. The round also saw contributions from GMO Venture Partners, Ratio Ventures, Force Ventures along with a prominent group of family offices, institutions, and angel investors.
Since the maiden seed round last year, TransBnk has witnessed 10X revenue growth. The company plans to utilize these funds towards expanding the network of banking partners, while also pursuing global expansion plans with a focus on Middle East and South East Asia markets. It aims to leverage the first-mover advantage in these regions and build market share. Further, TransBnk intends to bolster its tech infrastructure and developments to enhance its product stack.
TransBnk provides the rails on which incumbent and new age BFSI players can build new use cases for the various business segments like lending, payments, onboarding. These rails are offering the API-led upgrade to the existing infrastructure for delivering financial services in a scalable, robust and compliant manner.
Vaibhav Tambe, CEO and Co-Founder of TransBnk, said, “Transaction Banking has emerged as a transformative force in the banking and technology space, holding $1 trillion global market potential and is projected to be a $2 trillion industry by 2030. In India, we expect the $200 Bn unsecured lending market to be disrupted with Transaction Banking tapping cash flows. This presents a significant opportunity to us, considering our domain expertise in Banking & Technology across various segments like Lendingtech, Regtech, and Paytech.”
“We are elated with this fund-raise, which underscores investors’ confidence in our vision, team, and ability to operate in a competitive environment. With the support of 8i Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, GMO Venture Partners, Ratio Ventures and our robust team of senior ex bankers and NBFC officials, we will continue building stronger partnerships, driving success together”, Vaibhav added.
Traditional BFSI incumbents, encumbered by legacy systems, have been grappling with the challenges of meeting the new regulatory requirements for complex multi-party transactions. Sensing this challenge as an opportunity, TransBnk was conceived in 2022 by experienced veterans in transaction banking.
Vikram Chachra, Founding Partner at 8i Ventures, remarked, “TransBnk is revolutionizing India’s trillion-dollar transaction banking sector by empowering banks to offer advanced transaction services, bridging the technology gap. Their innovative approach is set to reshape the financial landscape. This investment perfectly aligns with our strategy of supporting ground-breaking fintech ventures.”
Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, commented: “Complex multi-party transactions can create bottlenecks for micro and small entrepreneurs who are often left out of, or poorly served by, the financial system and lack sufficient access to supply chain and marketplace solutions needed for growth. With strong revenue growth, TransBnk has proven that its transaction banking model can make these transactions easier, increasing access. The company is in an excellent position to expand their model internationally with this raise, enabling it to reach more underserved entrepreneurs.”
Incepted in 2022, ‘TransBnk’ enables corporates, commercial & institutional clients to make agile, secure & robust transactions with embedded finance & SaaS. In the span of only 20 months, the company has forged partnerships with over 25 Banks, extending more than 200 APIs, while working with 100 BFSI clients. The platform has supported over 5000 accounts including escrows and processed more than 50 million transactions. This has made TransBnk the preferred solution for NBFCs, Micro Finance Institutions, banks, and fintech handling complex transactions like Treasury Management, co-lending, supply chain finance, and Cash flow based lending use cases.
The banking industry has recently raised concerns about a significant decline in CASA (Current Account Saving Account) deposits, a key source of low-cost funding for banks. As of June 14, 2024, deposits have fallen by ₹3.5 lakh crore, or 1.6% year-to-date, compared to the same period last year. This decline poses a major challenge, with the CASA ratio dropping to its lowest level in nearly a decade for some institutions. In response, TransBnk has emerged as a much-needed solution, connecting banks with FinTech, NBFCs, P2P players, PPI and PG merchants, builders, and developers - entities that typically maintain large current account or escrow balances. By linking these high-balance clients with banks, TransBnk aims to strengthen CASA deposits and mitigate the issue of shrinking low-cost funding sources for Indian banks.