Groww, Secure Cash, Grip Make investments and Wint Wealth are amongst corporations which are using the wave, trying to money in on bond investments.
Grip Make investments, a sequence A wealth-tech firm, is in talks with Orios Enterprise Companions and present traders to boost nearly $8 million, two sources conscious of the event instructed Mint. Wint Wealth can also be exploring early conversations for its subsequent spherical of funding with new backers, two sources stated.
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Grip Make investments didn’t touch upon the event. Ajinkya Mukund Kulkarni, co-founder and CEO at Wint Wealth, confirmed there had been curiosity from traders, however stated the corporate was nonetheless exploring this and hadn’t actively began pursuing its subsequent spherical of funding.
Two different corporations eyeing the house, India Bond and Bondbazaar, have additionally begun funding talks with VCs, two sources instructed Mint. IndiaBonds declined to touch upon the fundraise, whereas queries despatched to Bondbazaar didn’t elicit a response on the time of publishing this story.
A bond is basically a mortgage settlement the place an investor lends cash to a borrower (like an organization or authorities) for a set interval, and in return, the borrower guarantees to repay the principal quantity (face worth) plus curiosity (coupon funds) at a specified future date (maturity). Basically, it is a fixed-income safety that represents debt.
Bond investments are more and more catching traders’ consideration due to a robust tech ecosystem, a regulatory push, and guarantees of secure returns. Retail bond investments through on-line bond platform supplier or OBPP-licensed platforms have seen explosive progress, rising from ₹242 crore in June 2024 to ₹972 crore by April 2025 — a staggering 430% CAGR, in accordance with NSE and BSE information compiled by Secure Cash.
There was a 327% improve in month-to-month transactions of company bonds and structured debt devices (SDIs) over the previous 12 months, stated a Enterprise Immediately report in February. That is due primarily to Sebi’s OBPP licence, which it launched in 2022 to regularise investments in bonds.
“We’re seeing a marked shift in investor behaviour since FY24-25. Retail traders are more and more viewing bonds not simply as a substitute for FDs, however as a core a part of their asset allocation technique,” stated Vishal Goenka, co-founder, IndiaBonds. “There’s rising curiosity in state-guaranteed bonds, high-yield NCDs and even in new merchandise like digital FDs. With a unstable fairness market and a benign rate of interest cycle within the nation we’ve got seen volumes on our platform double in simply the previous six months.”
Incumbents be part of the push
Present wealth-tech gamers are additionally getting into the brand new phase to money in on the push. Secure Cash, which as soon as targeted on FDs, diversified into bonds final 12 months. The phase, which makes up lower than 10% of its belongings beneath administration (AUM), is predicted to develop to as a lot as 50% by December 2026. The corporate goals to triple its present AUM of ₹3,000 crore by then, Saurabh Jain, CEO and co-founder, instructed Mint.
“We consider bonds are an rising wealth product, very similar to how mutual funds, shares, and F&O have scaled over time. There are only a few regulated merchandise with this sort of potential. With simplified KYC and totally digital processes, it has develop into a lot simpler to supply bonds on-line,” he stated. The corporate raised $20 million in a spherical led by Fundamentum earlier this month.
Groww, one of many largest on-line inventory brokers, which entered wealth administration via its current acquisition of Fisdom, is not far behind. The corporate is within the means of making use of for the web bond platform supplier (OBPP) license, which Sebi launched in 2022 to regularise investments in bonds. Since then, platforms want this license to facilitate the shopping for and promoting of listed, rated, and controlled bonds on-line. Greater than 30 corporations maintain this license as of June 2025, in accordance with Sebi’s web site.
Regulatory push made it doable
Aside from the credibility increase from OBPP licences, the framework additionally allowed small-ticket investments in bonds (ranging from ₹10,000), giving retail traders higher entry to the asset class, in Could 2024.
In November 2024, adjustments to the promoting code for OBPPs additional eased uncertainty for potential traders.
Wint Wealth’s Kulkarni defined, “Earlier, we had restrictions beneath the commercial code which was tailor-made for fairness brokers. In December 2024, up to date commercial code got here that enabled describing ourselves as a platform which supplies securities having mounted returns. Such a proactive regulatory step has helped get readability whereas constructing belief and bettering investor confidence.” Kulkarni added that a big chunk of the corporate’s progress got here after these adjustments in laws.
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Nonetheless, a VC who has chosen to not put money into the phase, and who didn’t want to be named, stated that whereas these platforms could present rising AUMs, many should not worthwhile and their monetisation fashions are nonetheless evolving. “Rates of interest are already beginning to come down. Bonds are yield merchandise, so if charges drop additional, the core worth proposition weakens,” this individual added. This impression is already seen on FDs. Over the previous 12 months, the RBI has minimize the repo price twice, which has decreased FD pursuits, making them much less engaging.
Quite the opposite, in accordance with a Grip evaluation primarily based on information from Prime Database and the RBI, sure sort of bonds, equivalent to ‘A’ rated company bonds, have persistently supplied yields between 10-11% over the previous decade, in distinction to mounted deposit charges, which carefully monitor the repo price.
Nishit Garg, companion at RTP World, stated it was due to these secure charges that curiosity in sure bond classes started rising after the framework was launched. “It’s a pure evolution. Actual property is turning into unaffordable, conventional investments are saturated, and center India is now actively in search of secure, various avenues for wealth creation,” stated Garg, who has led RTP World’s investments in Secure Cash and Dexif.
Is the market large enough?
Amit Nawka, companion at PwC India, stated the bond market stays largely untapped, which presents vital potential for progress. “As curiosity rises and extra gamers — together with fintechs — enter the house, success will hinge on constructing investor consciousness and belief, whereas staying aligned with evolving regulatory necessities,” he added.
Friends within the trade agreed that whereas competitors was intensifying, this was a largely optimistic improvement because the market would develop and traders would be taught extra about bonds, very similar to what occurred with shares and mutual funds.
Doing their very own factor
Corporations are approaching the bond market in numerous methods. Secure Cash, for instance, is aiming to nudge its FD clients to take barely extra threat for higher returns via authorities bonds.
“One main motive is that margin-wise, bonds are barely higher than mounted deposits. Additionally, retail penetration in company bonds is simply 0.5%, whereas mounted deposits are already a ₹75 trillion enterprise. Even when 2% of customers shift, that’s an incremental ₹1.5 trillion alternative in bonds. It’s an rising class, and we need to be on the forefront of it,” stated Jain.
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Others equivalent to Wint Wealth and Grip Make investments want to purchase first-time customers via bonds or shift mutual fund traders right into a barely safer asset class amid market uncertainty.
Dexif, in the meantime, is constructing an infrastructure layer that permits monetary advisors, wealth managers, and distribution platforms to supply bonds to clients.
“Bonds are an incredible product however consciousness could be very low—largely restricted to firms or ultra-high-net-worth people,” stated RTP’s Garg, an investor within the firm. “To really democratise bonds, we have to convey unbiased, impartial advisors into the image, individuals already trusted by the plenty.”
