Start-up aims to simplify investments, taxation, and banking for overseas Indians through GIFT City-backed solutions
Belong, a FinTech start-up focused on non-resident Indians (NRIs), has raised $5 million in seed funding to build a comprehensive digital financial platform tailored to the overseas Indian diaspora. The funding round was led by Elevation Capital, with participation from Relentless Ventures and several prominent angel investors, reported ibsintelligence.com.
With rising remittances but declining NRI investment participation, Belong seeks to bridge the financial services gap.
Founded in 2024, Belong targets persistent challenges faced by NRIs in accessing investment products and financial services in India, despite the broader digital transformation seen in domestic banking. Its flagship offering is a USD fixed deposit product in partnership with Indian banks at the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) in GIFT City. The product offers tax-free returns, rupee depreciation protection, simple repatriation, and KYC with doorstep verification.
The funding round saw backing from Urban Company co-founders Abhiraj Singh Bahl and Varun Khaitan, Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal, Mamaearth co-founder Varun Alagh, PayU’s Vineet Sethi, and McKinsey partner Aditya Sharma
Expanding tools and services for a digitally underserved audience
Belong has also developed a suite of digital tools to assist NRIs, including an FD rate explorer, GIFT Nifty tracker, rupee-dollar monitor, and a residential status calculator. It also plans to offer affordable India tax filing services for overseas residents, addressing a common pain point.
To support its broader product ambitions, the company has secured both a Payment Services Provider (PSP) licence and a broker-dealer licence from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA).
Despite India receiving $129 billion in remittances in 2024—up from $82 billion in 2019—NRI participation in mutual fund assets has declined from 2.9% to 2.3%, highlighting an underserved segment Belong aims to reach.
The company plans to expand to key NRI markets including the GCC, UK, and US, while introducing additional products such as mutual funds, Indian and US equities, insurance, and cards—all aligned with GIFT City’s regulatory environment.
Ankur Choudhary, co-founder and CEO, noted, “NRIs are the cream of the crop in terms of ticket size, but they remain digitally underserved. We saw a huge gap in the market.”
Elevation Capital partner Vaas Bhaskar added, “Belong is uniquely positioned to serve this massive market by combining deep FinTech expertise with GIFT City’s flexible regulatory framework.”
