India's First Husband And Wife To Each Have A Unicorn
NDTV
Oxyzo founded in 2017 uses technology to crunch data and provide purchase financing to businesses, giving out cash-flow based loans in a credit-starved country where small and medium businesses struggle to get working capital.
A couple became the country's first husband and wife to build their respective startups into enterprises with at least $1 billion valuation, also known as unicorns.
Oxyzo Financial Services, a digital lending startup co-founded by Ruchi Kalra, said Wednesday it hit the milestone with its maiden fundraising round of $200 million led by Alpha Wave Global, Tiger Global Management, Norwest Venture Partners and others. Less than a year earlier, her husband Asish Mohapatra's OfBusiness reached the same valuation after backing from SoftBank Group Corp. and others.
Ms Kalra, 38, and Mr Mohapatra, 41, are alums of Indian Institute of Technology and met while working at McKinsey & Co. Both startups are profitable, an unusual feat for young growth companies. Ms Kalra is the chief executive officer of Oxyzo while Mohapatra is the CEO at OfBusiness.
Matrix Partners and Creation Investments also invested in Oxyzo in what is one of the largest Series A rounds in India's startup industry.
