TransBnk, a Mumbai-based transaction banking platform, has successfully raised $4 million in Series A funding. The funding round was led by 8i Ventures, an early-stage India-focused VC fund with a strong track record in the fintech space, including notable successes like M2P, Slice, and Easebuzz. Accion Venture Lab, a global impact investor that supports early-stage fintech startups expanding financial access worldwide, co-led the round. The round also saw contributions from GMO Venture Partners, Ratio Ventures, Force Ventures, as well as a prominent group of family offices, institutions, and angel investors.
TransBnk, which has achieved 10X revenue growth since its seed round last year, plans to utilize the newly acquired funds to expand its network of banking partners and pursue global expansion, with a focus on the Middle East and Southeast Asia markets. The company aims to leverage its first-mover advantage in these regions and build significant market share. Additionally, TransBnk intends to enhance its tech infrastructure and product stack to better serve its clients.
Founded in 2022 by veterans in transaction banking, TransBnk provides the essential infrastructure for incumbent and new-age BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) players to create new use cases across various business segments such as lending, payments, and onboarding. The platform offers an API-led upgrade to the existing financial services infrastructure, ensuring scalability, robustness, and compliance.
Vaibhav Tambe, CEO and Co-Founder of TransBnk, highlighted the growing importance of transaction banking, stating, “Transaction Banking has emerged as a transformative force in the banking and technology space, holding $1 trillion global market potential and is projected to be a $2 trillion industry by 2030. In India, we expect the $200 Bn unsecured lending market to be disrupted with Transaction Banking tapping cash flows. This presents a significant opportunity to us, considering our domain expertise in Banking & Technology across various segments like Lendingtech, Regtech, and Paytech.”
Expressing his excitement about the recent fundraise, Tambe added, “We are elated with this fund-raise, which underscores investors’ confidence in our vision, team, and ability to operate in a competitive environment. With the support of 8i Ventures, Accion Venture Lab, GMO Venture Partners, Ratio Ventures, and our robust team of senior ex-bankers and NBFC officials, we will continue building stronger partnerships, driving success together.”
The challenges faced by traditional BFSI incumbents, particularly those burdened by legacy systems, have created an opportunity for TransBnk. The company has been conceived to address these challenges, offering innovative solutions that meet the new regulatory requirements for complex multi-party transactions.
Vikram Chachra, Founding Partner at 8i Ventures, remarked on the significance of TransBnk’s impact, stating, “TransBnk is revolutionizing India’s trillion-dollar transaction banking sector by empowering banks to offer advanced transaction services, bridging the technology gap. Their innovative approach is set to reshape the financial landscape. This investment perfectly aligns with our strategy of supporting ground-breaking fintech ventures.”
Rahil Rangwala, Managing Partner at Accion Venture Lab, commented on the broader impact of TransBnk’s model, saying, “Complex multi-party transactions can create bottlenecks for micro and small entrepreneurs who are often left out of, or poorly served by, the financial system and lack sufficient access to supply chain and marketplace solutions needed for growth. With strong revenue growth, TransBnk has proven that its transaction banking model can make these transactions easier, increasing access. The company is in an excellent position to expand their model internationally with this raise, enabling it to reach more underserved entrepreneurs.”
Since its inception in 2022, TransBnk has enabled corporates, commercial, and institutional clients to execute agile, secure, and robust transactions through embedded finance and SaaS. In just 20 months, the company has partnered with over 25 banks, extended more than 200 APIs, and worked with 100 BFSI clients. The platform has supported over 5,000 accounts, including escrows, and processed more than 50 million transactions, making TransBnk the preferred solution for NBFCs, Micro Finance Institutions, banks, and fintechs handling complex transactions like treasury management, co-lending, supply chain finance, and cash flow-based lending use cases.
The Indian banking industry is currently facing a significant decline in CASA (Current Account Saving Account) deposits, which are a key source of low-cost funding for banks. As of June 14, 2024, deposits have fallen by ₹3.5 lakh crore, or 1.6% year-to-date, compared to the same period last year, leading to the lowest CASA ratio in nearly a decade for some institutions. In response, TransBnk has emerged as a crucial solution, connecting banks with FinTech, NBFCs, P2P players, PPI and PG merchants, builders, and developers—entities that typically maintain large current account or escrow balances. By linking these high-balance clients with banks, TransBnk aims to strengthen CASA deposits and mitigate the challenge of shrinking low-cost funding sources for Indian banks.
