{"id":569077,"date":"2025-07-11T05:37:43","date_gmt":"2025-07-11T04:37:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ibsintelligence.com\/?post_type=ibsi_news&p=569077"},"modified":"2025-07-11T05:37:43","modified_gmt":"2025-07-11T04:37:43","slug":"belong-raises-5m-to-build-nri-focused-fintech-platform","status":"publish","type":"ibsi_news","link":"https:\/\/ibsintelligence.com\/ibsi-news\/belong-raises-5m-to-build-nri-focused-fintech-platform\/","title":{"rendered":"Belong raises $5m to build NRI-focused FinTech platform"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Belong\"<\/p>\n

Belong<\/a>, a FinTech start-up developing a dedicated financial platform for non-resident Indians (NRIs), has raised $5 million in a funding<\/a> round led by Elevation Capital<\/a> as it begins operations focused on retail investment products through Gift City.<\/p>\n

The round attracted further backing from Relentless Ventures and a group of well-known angel investors, including Abhiraj Singh Bahl and Varun Khaitan, co-founders of Urban Company; Akshant Goyal, CFO at Zomato; Varun Alagh, co-founder of Mamaearth; Vineet Sethi, senior vice president at PayU; and Aditya Sharma, partner at McKinsey & Company.<\/p>\n

Founded in 2024, Belong’s goal is to address long-standing challenges faced by NRIs when seeking to save and invest in India. These challenges have persisted despite the increasing digitalisation of financial services for domestic residents. The company\u2019s first offering is a USD fixed deposit product, developed in partnership with Indian banks operating under the International Financial Services Centre (IFSC) at Gift City.<\/p>\n

Belong\u2019s initial product aims to provide tax-free returns in India, protection against rupee depreciation, straightforward repatriation, and simplified Know Your Customer (KYC) processes, including doorstep verification. The company has secured a Payment Services Provider (PSP) licence and a broker-dealer licence from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA) to support its broader ambitions.<\/p>\n

Alongside its core product, Belong has introduced a set of digital tools to help NRIs navigate financial decisions more easily, such as an NRI fixed deposit rates explorer, a GIFT Nifty tracker, a rupee-dollar monitor, and a residential status calculator. The firm also intends to offer India tax filing services without the premium costs that are often charged to overseas residents.<\/p>\n

According to the company, while remittances to India have risen from $82 billion in 2019 to $129 billion in 2024, the share of NRIs in mutual fund assets under management has fallen from 2.9% to 2.3% during the same period underlining an underserved market segment that Belong intends to target with a wider suite of investment and wealth products.<\/p>\n

Belong plans to expand into other major NRI markets, including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the UK and the US. The company expects to broaden its product range further, with plans for mutual funds, Indian and US equities, insurance, and financial cards, all designed to fit within the regulatory structure of Gift City.<\/p>\n

Ankur Choudhary, co-founder and CEO of Belong,<\/strong> said, \u201cFor resident Indians, everything has become digital, and there are so many financial products. For NRIs, it\u2019s quite different, even though, from the ticket size perspective, they are the cream of the crop. So, we saw a huge gap in the market.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vaas Bhaskar, partner at Elevation Capital,<\/strong> said, \u201cNRIs have long been underserved when it comes to modern, digital-first financial solutions tailored to their unique needs. Belong is uniquely positioned to serve this massive, underserved market by combining deep FinTech expertise with Gift City\u2019s regulatory framework.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35851,"featured_media":569078,"parent":0,"template":"","categories":[11395,11381,11368,11376,11387,11378,11370],"tags":[11668,11649,12004,11438,12472,11549,11515,11404,11418,11810],"class_list":["post-569077","ibsi_news","type-ibsi_news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-analytics","category-artificial-intelligence","category-core-banking","category-digital-banking","category-investment-management","category-open-banking","category-wealth-management-and-private-banking","tag-cross-border-payments","tag-digital-banking","tag-digital-lending","tag-digital-payments","tag-financial-inclusion","tag-financial-services","tag-fintech","tag-india","tag-instant-payments","tag-investment"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBelong raises $5m to build NRI-focused FinTech platform - IBS Intelligence<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Belong, a FinTech start-up developing a dedicated financial platform for non-resident Indians (NRIs), has raised $5 million.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/ibsintelligence.com\/ibsi-news\/belong-raises-5m-to-build-nri-focused-fintech-platform\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Belong raises $5m to build NRI-focused FinTech platform\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"IBS Intelligence (IBSi) is the world\u2019s only pure-play Financial Technology focused research, advisory, and fintech news analysis firm, with a 30-year track record and clients globally. 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