Sqrrl Fintech

Sqrrl Fintech Private Limited is an app-based personal finance and financial planning platform targeting young Indian investors, particularly millennials and Gen-Z. The company was founded in 2016, with the app officially launching in March 2017, by Samant Sikka, Sanjeev Sharma, and Dhananjay Singh. The founders identified a growing gap between spending and saving habits among young Indians and created Sqrrl to simplify personal finance and encourage investment. Samant Sikka, the CEO, has over two decades of experience in financial services with firms like Franklin Templeton and Goldman Sachs. Sanjeev Sharma also has an extensive background in financial services, having worked at Franklin Templeton and AIG Investment. Dhananjay Singh was brought in for his technology expertise. In May 2022, Sqrrl was acquired by consumer credit provider CASHe, though it continues to operate as an independent platform.

The platform operates on a B2B and B2C model, serving individual retail customers directly through its app and also partnering with other financial institutions. A key partnership includes one with ICICI Bank to power goal-based investments for their millennial-focused banking platform. The company's revenue is generated through distribution fees from the mutual fund companies whose products are offered on the platform. It follows a freemium model where core services are free, with plans for paid value-added services. Sqrrl has raised a total of $1.47 million over three funding rounds, including a $1 million Pre-Series A round from Equanimity Venture Fund in 2018.

Sqrrl's mobile application, available in nine Indian languages, offers a suite of investment products designed for ease of use. The platform provides access to mutual funds, systematic investment plans (SIPs), tax-saving ELSS schemes, digital gold, and fixed deposits. One of its distinctive features is "Sqrrl Away," a micro-investment tool that rounds up users' daily expenditures to the nearest hundred and invests the spare change. The app also facilitates goal-based investing, allowing users to save for specific objectives like a vacation or a new gadget. The platform is designed to guide first-time investors by personalizing recommendations using data science and machine learning, rather than overwhelming them with choices. As of early 2021, the app had over 400,000 downloads with users spanning more than 600 cities, with a significant portion (55%) coming from outside India's top 30 urban centers.

Keywords: personal finance, investment app, wealth management, mutual funds, SIP, fintech, micro-investing, goal-based investing, tax-saving investments, digital gold, financial planning, retail investing, Indian fintech, round-up investing, Equanimity Venture Fund, CASHe, Samant Sikka, investment platform, mobile finance, millennial finance