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NRI-focused fintech startup Belong raise $5 Mn in funding

Former executives from Niyo and Goalwise have launched Belong, a fintech startup designed specifically for Non-Resident Indians (NRIs) seeking to save and invest in India.

The fintech startup has secured $5 million in seed funding, led by Elevation Capital, with additional backing from Relentless Ventures and notable angel investors such as Abhiraj Bahl and Varun Khaitan (Urban Company), Varun Alagh (Mamaearth), Akshant Goyal (Zomato CFO), and Vineet Sethi (PayU).

Belong positions itself as the first fintech startup to offer USD fixed deposits to retail NRIs through GIFT City. The company is debuting in the UAE this week, launching its initial product in partnership with RBL Bank. After establishing a presence in the UAE, Belong plans to expand to other major NRI markets, including the GCC, UK, and US.

“We’re building Belong to be the trusted financial home for global Indians, starting with simple, secure access to USD fixed deposits through GIFT City,” said Ankur Choudhary, co-founder and CEO of Belong.

Choudhary, along with co-founders Ayush Singh and Savitri Bobde, previously built Goalwise, a robo-advisory investment platform launched in 2015. Fintech company Niyo acquired the fintech startup in 2020, and the trio continued to serve in key leadership roles there.

Sai Sankar M, the fourth co-founder of Belong, brings over 20 years of banking experience and had served as the Chief Business Officer for Niyo’s global cards division.

After exiting Niyo, the four founders reunited to launch Belong, aiming to address the long-standing financial access challenges faced by NRIs seeking to invest and save in India.

The idea for Belong emerged from their own experience trying to serve NRIs in the past and repeatedly hitting roadblocks due to India’s fragmented compliance and banking systems. “Even during Goalwise, we had many NRI users eager to invest, but we couldn’t onboard them due to the KYC hurdles. Fast forward to 2024, and those challenges remain largely unsolved,” Choudhary said.

Belong has launched a new product that eliminates the common pain points NRIs face when investing in India. As co-founder Choudhary explains, the traditional process requires opening an NRE/NRO account with an Indian bank, sending notarized documents by courier or visiting Indian embassies, dealing with currency conversion complexities, navigating relationship managers, and facing repatriation hurdles.

With Belong, starting in the UAE, NRIs can now invest in USD-denominated fixed deposits without the need for an NRE/NRO account. The platform offers doorstep KYC, near-zero forex markup, and enables direct deposits and withdrawals from UAE bank accounts. Since users invest in USD via GIFT City, they avoid INR depreciation and enjoy tax-exempt returns in India.

“You just download the app, upload your documents, and schedule a doorstep KYC, like booking a home service. There’s no need to visit a bank branch, print documents, or talk to an RM,” he explained.

The regulatory framework of GIFT City has enabled this innovation. The International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA)—the unified regulator for GIFT City—has fully licensed Belong. The startup holds both a Payment Services Provider (PSP) license and a Broker Dealer license, enabling it to conduct KYC and manage transactions directly.

This sets Belong apart from traditional Indian fintechs, which typically rely on partner bank licenses to operate.

“We were one of the very first to apply for the PSP license when it launched last year, and we’ve worked closely with IFSCA to launch the first real NRI-facing retail product from the IFSC.”

The startup ran a small beta in the UAE, where around 200 NRIs joined its waitlist and tested the product. “The response was very encouraging. There is a clear gap, and the demand is real—especially among UAE-based Indians who know they’ll return to India eventually and want to start building their retirement corpus here,” the co-founder said.

He stated that Indians direct nearly 25 percent of the country’s $137 billion annual remittance inflow into deposits, while they invest less than 5 percent in equities or mutual funds. “This isn’t due to lack of intent. It’s the friction. Many NRIs even route their investments informally through relatives in India,” he noted.

Belong has also built a suite of NRI-focused digital tools aimed at simplifying financial decision-making for the diaspora. These include an NRI FD Rates Explorer, a GIFT Nifty Tracker, an NRI Compliance Compass, a Residential Status Calculator, and a Rupee vs Dollar Tracker.

The company is additionally launching a dedicated India tax filing service for NRIs without the typical “NRI markup” pricing. “NRIs are usually charged higher and non-standardized rates for most services in India. Belong aims to change that by offering transparent and cost-effective NRI taxation services,” the team added.

Belong’s long-term vision is to evolve into a full-stack financial platform built exclusively for NRIs. The fintech startup plans to expand its offerings to include Indian and US equities, mutual funds, global insurance products, NRI-specific financial cards, and a tax filing service—all without the inflated “NRI premium” that many traditional service providers typically charge.

With this roadmap, Belong aims to become the go-to destination for NRIs seeking seamless, cost-effective access to a wide range of financial products across geographies.

The team has already obtained a capital markets license and is working on developing equity and mutual fund products in collaboration with regulators and AMCs. “It’s early days for GIFT City, but the regulatory environment is pro-innovation. If built right, this can become the global financial backbone for India,” he added.

“NRIs have long been underserved when it comes to digital-first financial solutions tailored to their unique needs,” said Vaas Bhaskar, Partner at Elevation Capital. “Belong is uniquely positioned to serve this massive, underserved market by combining deep fintech expertise with GIFT City’s regulatory rails.”

Belong is redefining how NRIs engage with financial products in India by offering a seamless, digital-first experience tailored to their unique needs. Backed by seasoned fintech founders and prominent investors, the fintech startup is leveraging GIFT City’s progressive regulatory framework to simplify investments—starting with USD fixed deposits—and plans to build a comprehensive financial ecosystem for NRIs worldwide.

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