Niyo acquires wealthtech start-up Goalwise; aims to target millennials

 In a bid to expand its product offering to the millennials, Niyo, India's leading digital banking fintech start-up, has acquired Goalwise, a new-age mutual funds investment platform.

The Covid-19 pandemic has significantly increased the demand for digital banking and related services. Niyo is well-placed to use this opportunity to rapidly expand its user base through a great mobile app experience and innovative product suite that will now include wealth management products.

Niyo Co-founders Vinay Bagri (CEO) and Virender Bisht (CTO) have picked up majority stakes in the start-up, along with Niyo, in a cash-and-stock deal for an undisclosed amount. The Goalwise founding members will join Niyo's leadership team and will be running Niyo Wealth as an independent vertical within Niyo.

The acquisition is in line with Niyo's goal of building a comprehensive product suite for its users. Apart from the DIY zero per cent commission mutual fund product already live on Niyo Wealth platform, the company plans to launch international and domestic stocks, robo-advisory and auto-invest products in next few months.

Goalwise currently has over 60,000 users with Rs 850 crore AUA (assets under advice). The company primarily caters to salaried millennials belonging to Tier 1 cities and a median income of Rs. 10 lakh. The start-up offers a unique set-and-forget goal-based investing solution that oversees all aspects of investment, including mutual fund selection, portfolio rebalancing and target-tracking among others.

Vinay Bagri said, "We are delighted to welcome Goalwise and the entire team to the Niyo family. It has been our constant endeavour to offer the best financial products to our consumers and make the banking process easy, secure and convenient for all. We strongly believe in the importance of investing and helping our customers achieve their life goals of financial stability and independence. The acquisition of Goalwise is a significant step in that direction."

Goalwise Co-founder and CEO Swapnil Bhaskar said, "We, at Goalwise, have always believed in transparency and building best-in-class products that will empower our customers to make better financial decisions. Niyo believes in the same values which made this merger a natural fit. With our combined resources, we will now be able to accelerate our roadmap for advanced features and inclusion of many more financial products. Together, we are set to fulfil the dreams of a million Indians to achieve their financial goals."

Niyo became one of the first fintechs in India to launch a co-branded savings account in partnership with IDFC FIRST Bank that combines the best of banking, forex and wealth management features in its 007 proposition – 0% commission on mutual funds, 0% forex mark-up on international spends and up to 7% interest on the savings account through a waitlist that was subscribed by around 100K people.

As per industry reports, Indians have parked over $1.8 trillion of their wealth in low-yield bank deposits, which indicates that they refrain from investing in capital markets owing to poor financial literacy, low trust in the stock market, poor user experience and general disinterest. Niyo aims to empower them through its latest product offering that will offer higher rates of interest and encourage investment in mutual funds.

Niyo is among the fastest growing fintech start-ups in India with a customer base of 1.5 million and 6,000+ corporates. The company is backed by marquee investors such as Social+Capital, JS Capital and Prime Venture Partners, and has raised about $49 million in funding so far. Niyo has been ranked among Asia's Top 50 soonicorns.