Yes Bank invests in Venture Catalysts Group Funds to support start-ups

Retail banking company Yes Bank has said that it has invested an undisclosed amount in Venture Catalysts Group Funds in a bid to increase its visibility in the start-up ecosystem. The bank has already invested in two of its linked firms, Beams Fintech Fund, and 9 Unicorns.

Venture Catalysts Group Fund is an integrated startup incubator offering funding, mentorship, and a business network to start-up founders. Since 2016, Venture Catalysts has backed over 110 start-ups across multiple sectors. Some of the prominent start-ups it has supported are BharatPe, Supr Daily, Fynd, Beardo, among others.  

Floated at the beginning of 2022, Beams Fintech Fund (Beams) has invested in various growth stage start-ups in the fintech space, especially in the areas like SaaS for banks and financial institutions, SaaS for businesses, global enterprise SaaS, personal finance management, and neobanking. 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund, which is an accelerator program, has raised around $100 million and is actively deploying from its maiden fund.

Venture Catalysts is offering funding, mentorship, and a networking base to help these start-ups grow from the inception stage to the growth stage.

“We are very keen on this partnership as it will be a great beginning for the tech ecosystem. We hope this will encourage other banks and fintech companies in the market to partner with groups like Beams Fintech Fund and 9 Unicorns Accelerator Fund. We are aiming to create a large ecosystem consisting of banks, NBFCs, and fintech companies to support the tech ecosystem,” said Naveen Surya, co-founding member, Beams Fintech Fund.

Private lender Yes Bank is witnessing some good developments of late. The bank’s recent fund infusion of Rs 9,000 crore from private equity giants, Carlyle and Advent, has made investors and employees hope for a good period ahead.

The lender always hoped to invest in India’s growing tech markets and collaborate with supporting tech companies to ideate and experiment in different sectors, such as agriculture, healthcare, e-commerce, education, logistics, open banking, supply chain finance, payments, digital banking, among others. The tie-up with Venture Catalysts is a step towards this initiative, said Ajay Rajan, Country Head, Transaction Banking, Yes Bank.

"This partnership is a step in the direction of becoming the go-to bank for tech startups. India is at the cusp of massive growth in the fintech sector. This will play a critical role in this journey,” he added.

Venture Catalysts has a presence in India and six other countries, including UAE, Hong Kong, the UK, the US, Canada, and Singapore. It usually invests in the range of Rs 2-15 crore in any start-up through a network of HNIs, Family Offices, and CXOs.