Amazon makes entry into wealth management sector in India, to back startup Small case

Amazon Inc has entered the wealth management sector in India, making its maiden investment by participating in $40 million round by financial technology startup Small case Technologies Pvt.

The startup, based out of Bengaluru, announced that the round was led by Faering Capital Pvt. It was further joined by another investor PremjiInvest, the private investment office of technology billionaire Azim Premji.

Existing investors that are backing Small case include Sequoia Capital India and Blume Ventures, who also participated in the round. This brings the total investment raised by the startup to more than $60 million. 

Small case works on improving digital access to capital markets by providing exclusive “portfolios of stocks and exchange-traded funds from in-house licensed professionals as well as access to independent investment managers, brokerages and wealth platforms.”

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The firm has tie-ups with many brokerage firms across India and works by distributing products through brokerage partners, offline agents and wealth advisers. Small case was founded by three friends Vasanth Kamath, Anugrah Shrivastava and Rohan Gupta in 2015, all alumni of IIT (Indian Institute of Technology) Kharagpur. 

“A new set of younger, high risk-taking investors are participating in the capital markets and they want complete transparency,” Kamath, the chief executive officer, said in a video interview. “We build simpler, low-cost investment products, each reflecting a theme, a strategy or objective.”

Past one year has seen Small case increasing its orders by more than double. The startup currently has 200 employees with majority focus in technology and product engineering. The firm has future plans of expanding its reach from technology and to further build up its distribution network.

Amazon by investing in Smallcase will open new avenues for itself in sector of wealth management in India. The US mogul has previously invested in other fintech startups in India, such as Acko General Insurance Ltd, and Capital Float, the credit provider.