Amazon Backs Smallcase with $40 Million Investment

Amazon Expands into Wealth Management in India

In recent years, Amazon has been actively establishing a presence within India’s financial services and insurance sectors. Now, the company is preparing to enter the wealth management arena.

Investment in Smallcase

The American e-commerce leader has provided financial backing to Bangalore-based startup Smallcase, participating in a $40 million Series C funding round.

Faering Capital and Premji Invest spearheaded the investment. Existing investors, including Sequoia Capital, Blume Ventures, Beenext, DSP Group, Arkam Ventures, WEH Ventures, and HDFC Bank, also contributed to this round, bringing the total funding raised to date to over $65 million.

Smallcase: A Platform for New Investors

Established in July 2015 by three graduates from IIT Kharagpur, Smallcase is designed to introduce a new demographic of investors to the Indian equity markets.

The company boasts an internal team of qualified, licensed professionals who curate a selection of over 100 portfolios comprised of stocks and exchange-traded funds.

Furthermore, Smallcase connects users with independent investment managers, brokerages, and wealth platforms.

Platform Reach and User Base

Smallcase currently collaborates with a dozen prominent stock brokers operating in India, such as Upstox, backed by Tiger Global, and Zerodha’s Kite.

The platform has attracted over 3 million users, collectively transacting approximately $2.5 billion annually.

According to the company, users can initiate investments with as few as two clicks following account registration.

Statements from Smallcase Leadership

“We’ve successfully cultivated a rapidly expanding category of investment products by fostering an ecosystem of over 250 businesses within the capital markets, encompassing India’s leading and fastest-growing brokerages, advisors, investment managers, and digital wealth platforms,” stated Vasanth Kamath, co-founder and CEO of Smallcase.

“It’s been incredibly rewarding to witness smallcases becoming the primary entry point to stocks and ETFs for millions of new investors.

This funding reinforces our commitment to continually developing simple, transparent, and user-friendly experiences and platforms, while maximizing value for both our users and partners.

Ultimately, our success will be measured by our ability to build the fundamental components for every investor’s portfolio and become an integral part of their investment toolkit,” Kamath added.

Future Plans and Amazon’s Broader Investment Strategy

The startup, which employs 200 individuals, intends to utilize the newly acquired funds to enhance its technology infrastructure and expand its customer base.

This investment marks another instance of Amazon supporting Indian startups.

Having already invested over $6.5 billion in its Indian operations, Amazon has previously backed companies like ride-hailing service Shuttl, invoice discounting marketplace M1xchange, and direct-to-consumer beauty brand MyGlamm.

Earlier in the year, Amazon launched a $250 million venture fund specifically aimed at investing in Indian startups and entrepreneurs focused on the digitization of small and medium-sized businesses within the South Asian market.

Amazon’s Perspective

An Amazon spokesperson confirmed that the investment in Smallcase was made through the aforementioned $250 million venture fund.

“We are pleased to partner with smallcase as they innovate in the consumer investment space as part of this Fund.

By expanding product choices and increasing convenience, we aim to provide consumers with another avenue to engage with the equity markets,” the spokesperson explained.