Univest Secures Pre-Seed Funding of ~3.8 crs, in talks to raise $4 Mn
New Delhi : Univest, a fintech startup making an advanced one solution for stock markets, secured funding from angel investors in its pre-seed phase. The fintech platform secured funding worth ~3.8 crs, to be utilized towards product launch and team building.
Univest – the brainchild of Pranit Arora and Avneet Dhamija, was started with the goal to improve ROIs for every stock market investor by solving their problems of: Timely exit from non-performing investments to letting them convert into great investments within a jiffy. Univest has built a unique one stop solution for stock markets which is making the investment journey easy, intelligent, and more rewarding. The fintech platform was incepted in 2022 with the mission to solve a critical problem faced by millions of retailers while exiting a stock investment to ensure maximum return on investment. The launch marked the release of the Univest app 5 days back and has already garnered ~4000 active retail investors.
Having received angel investments worth 3.8 crs, Univest is already in advanced stages of closure of another round, seeking $4 million in its Seed Funding round. The current list of investors include Pritesh Talwar (CEO, Livpure), Aakash Anand (Founder, CEO, BellaVita Organics), Deep Bajaj and Mohit Bajaj (Co-founders, Peebuddy), Saahil Nayar, Ajay Pawah (Co-founder, Fixigo), Rahul Gambhir (CFO, Brookfield), Chetan Nigam (VP, HCL), Neeraj Goswami, and others.
A survey by Securities & Exchange Board Of India (SEBI) indicates that 95% of Indian families prefer investing in Fixed Deposits due to guaranteed returns, as compared to a proportion less than 10% showing interests in mutual funds and stocks. However, the post-pandemic era has witnessed a surge in investments in the stock market, implying a transition in sentiment. Univest offers to guide this population in penetrating stock markets with an approach that incorporates social analytics, technical indicators, financial ratios, company fundamentals, and news-based sentiments that help users make the right decisions and get attractive ROIs.
Reflecting on Univest’s journey so far, Pranit Arora, Co-Founder & CEO, Univest said, “A glaring problem for majority retail investors is the identification of the right time to exit a non-performing stock investment and convert to a better investment opportunity. There is an abundance of information available in markets, but the task of being prescient bears its own challenges. Univest addresses this issue, and has set out on a mission to provide its customers quality, actionable insights on existing portfolios, while leveraging the same knowledge to pinpoint towards new investment opportunities with high ROIs. Our goal is to assist each individual investor’s journey in growing their wealth, while building a community of educated, self-reliant investors.”
Pranit is the Co-Founder and CEO of Univest, where he manages growth, marketing, investor relationships, legal and finance operations. His experience spans across industries such as FMCG, disruptive technology, automotive after-sales and logistics. Pranit brings extensive business strategy experience from working in FMCG sales, business development, trade, marketing, strategy, and has headed sales, growth and marketing teams at Otipy and Gomechanic whereas Avneet, the other cofounder, has led product monetisation for Bookmyshow in the past. Currently, they have a team Univest with 21 professionals, including a Sr. tech leader – Vikash Agarwal, with 17 years of work experience as the CTO.
In its first year of operations post-launch, Univest expects to reach 3 million users, with further plans of expansion through investing in other classes like commodities, mutual funds, investments in startups and exploring SEA markets like Indonesia.