Rainmatter, the venture funding arm of stockbroking giant Zerodha, has invested $2 million in Pensionbox. The startup has built a platform to distribute National Pension Scheme products to both retail and corporate clients.
Speaking with ET, Kuldeep Parashar, cofounder, Pensionbox, said the company will use the funds to increase awareness about pension schemes and how it can offer financial security to private sector employees and individuals after retirement. Most government employees are already covered by NPS or some other pension scheme.
“While the new tax regime does not offer additional benefits for such investments, corporates offering NPS can extend this to their employees. We enable companies to get registered for the product,” Parashar said.
Currently, only 22,000 private companies are registered with the NPS. While this number is growing, it is very small compared to the 700,000 companies that offer provident fund benefits to their employees, Parashar added.
The company has also set up a joint venture with Zerodha to distribute pension products. At present, NPS is available for retail investors through Coin, the direct mutual fund platform run by Zerodha. For corporate clients Pensionbox is tying up with HR software platforms for quick integration.
Given that NPS is a regulated product managed by the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority), the commissions charged by the likes of Pensionbox are capped at 0.2% and scrutinised by the regulator.
Traditionally, banks have been the largest distributors for pension funds, but now fintechs are also tapping into this market opportunity.
Parashar said that growing the AUM under NPS is a long-term game, hence founders need to plan for a decade to achieve sizeable scale in this business.
In 2024, Pensionbox raised around Rs 8 crore in seed funding from Zerodha chief executive Nithin Kamath. Rainmatter has invested in multiple fintechs such as DigiO, Sensibull, and Ditto. Through these, Zerodha is trying to create a network of companies which enable consumers to access different types of financial services, such as for wealth management, payments, and credit.
Speaking with ET, Kuldeep Parashar, cofounder, Pensionbox, said the company will use the funds to increase awareness about pension schemes and how it can offer financial security to private sector employees and individuals after retirement. Most government employees are already covered by NPS or some other pension scheme.
“While the new tax regime does not offer additional benefits for such investments, corporates offering NPS can extend this to their employees. We enable companies to get registered for the product,” Parashar said.
Currently, only 22,000 private companies are registered with the NPS. While this number is growing, it is very small compared to the 700,000 companies that offer provident fund benefits to their employees, Parashar added.
The company has also set up a joint venture with Zerodha to distribute pension products. At present, NPS is available for retail investors through Coin, the direct mutual fund platform run by Zerodha. For corporate clients Pensionbox is tying up with HR software platforms for quick integration.
Given that NPS is a regulated product managed by the PFRDA (Pension Fund Regulatory and Development Authority), the commissions charged by the likes of Pensionbox are capped at 0.2% and scrutinised by the regulator.
Traditionally, banks have been the largest distributors for pension funds, but now fintechs are also tapping into this market opportunity.
Parashar said that growing the AUM under NPS is a long-term game, hence founders need to plan for a decade to achieve sizeable scale in this business.
In 2024, Pensionbox raised around Rs 8 crore in seed funding from Zerodha chief executive Nithin Kamath. Rainmatter has invested in multiple fintechs such as DigiO, Sensibull, and Ditto. Through these, Zerodha is trying to create a network of companies which enable consumers to access different types of financial services, such as for wealth management, payments, and credit.
