Dvara SmartGold Raises $2 mn in pre-series A funding round

NEW DELHI: Micro-savings platform Dvara SmartGold on Monday said it has raised $2 million in a pre Series A funding round, led by Axilor, an early-stage sector agnostic seed fund and Dvara Holdings. Dvara SmartGold is an initiative of the ‘Dvara Venture Studio’ cohort that supports entrepreneurs working towards large-scale systemic change in the financial inclusion space.

Founded in 2019, Dvara SmartGold allows customers to invest in gold through small, flexible installments. This happens through uniquely designed gold micro-savings plans wherein customers can invest as per their cash availability. The vision is building a full stack financial services offering anchored around gold as an asset class, the company said in a statement.

“Financial inclusion in India has thus far been largely focused on Jan Dhan accounts, payments and credit. We believe that this is incomplete without solving the problem of micro-savings for the underserved segment and also building financial services around micro-savings. We are delighted that Axilor has chosen to partner with Dvara SmartGold to solve this problem and we look forward to working together,” said Samir Shah, Executive Vice-Chair and co-founder, Dvara Holdings.

"Gold is the most intuitive savings product and inflation hedge for the majority of households in India. We are excited to partner with Dvara SmartGold which aims to unlock its value for 400 million+ underserved Indians by helping them save more through micro-savings and achieve their financial goals by offering liquidity and security,” said Ganapathy Venugopal, co-founder and CEO, Axilor.