Founded by Rajan Bajaj,
Slice provides a physical and virtual card focused on millennials. It enables
students and salaried professionals to buy collateral-free products and
services online on estimated monthly installments (EMIs) through an app and helps
them build credit scores. Consumer lending and payments startup Slice is set to
raise Rs 300 crore or nearly $36 million via convertible debt co-led by Taneja
Family Trust, Anju Family Personal Trust, UK2 Family Trust, and MN Family
Trust. While Blume Ventures and 8i Ventures also invest a significant chunk. The
Board at Slice has passed a special resolution to raise Rs 300 crore or around
$36 million via the issue of up to 30,000 compulsory convertible debentures at
an issue price of Rs 100,000 each, the company’s regulatory filings with the
Registrar of Companies show.
Taneja Family Trust,
Anju Family Personal Trust, UK2 Family Trust, and MN Family Trust co-leading
the round with an investment of Rs 30 crore each. Blume Ventures and 8i
Ventures (Eight Innovate Investment Trust) followed with Rs 27 crore and Rs 25
crore, respectively. Other participating investors are Inland Financial
Services, Mintcap Enterprises, Stargazer Ventures, Roger Bravo Advisors, and
Broadbridge Capital Management. Individuals such as Krishna Kumar Karwa, Aditya
Jadhav, Aryaman Jadhav, Zahir Merchant, Shikha Begwani, Nilesh Mahendra Popat,
Khyati Vyas, Simran Jhaveri, Kalpana Kiran Maniar, and seven other individuals
also joined the debt financing round.While the firm is yet to report FY24
numbers, Slice grew threefold to Rs 847 crore during FY23 as compared to Rs 283
crore in FY22. With the 3X spike in employee benefits and NPAs, Slice’s losses
grew 59.8% to Rs 406 crore in FY23 compared to Rs 254 crore in FY22. The
Bengaluru-based firm raised nearly $400 million to date including a massive
$220 million Series B round led by Tiger Global and Insight partners. According
to the data intelligence platform, Tiger Global and Insight Partners hold 7.9%
and 6.6% stake, respectively while its founder and CEO Rajan Bajaj commands a
9.3% stake.The company also made headlines when it received approval from the
National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) for its merger with North East Small
Finance Bank (NESFB). Both the companies announced their merger in October
2023. In March last year, Slice acquired a 5% stake in Guwahati-headquartered
bank for about $3.42 million.