Navi raises funding from Prosus for the first time
Navi raises funding for the first time from institutional investors, securing $100 million from Prosus. This marks a significant milestone for the eight-year-old Indian fintech founded by Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal.
The investment values Navi at about **$1.3 billion**, according to people familiar with the matter. This comes after the Bengaluru-based startup previously sought to raise external capital at a valuation of about $2 billion in 2024.
Sachin Bansal’s fintech journey
Bansal founded Navi in 2018 after leaving Flipkart following its $16 billion sale to Walmart. He poured hundreds of millions of dollars of his own money into the venture, with a long-term goal of eventually building it into a bank.
The fintech provides a wide range of financial services, including digital payments, lending, insurance, and mutual funds. Bansal said the Prosus investment was a “strong endorsement” of the institution Navi is building, adding that the startup valued the investor’s global perspective and experience scaling technology businesses.
Financial performance and IPO plans
The investment, subject to customary closing conditions and regulatory approvals, comes as Navi is reportedly preparing to go public. The company is looking to raise **₹30 billion (about $314 million)** in an initial public offering. Originally, the startup had filed for a $440 million IPO in 2022 but abandoned the plan the following year as the IPO market slumped.
In the financial year ended March 2026, Navi reported revenue of ₹30.91 billion (about $323.33 million)**. However, its net loss grew to **₹4.66 billion (around $48.74 million) during the same period. Despite this, the startup says it reached consolidated profitability in Q4 of fiscal 2026.
Navi’s position in India’s UPI market
Navi’s app, which offers digital payments through the Indian government-backed Unified Payments Interface (UPI), has become a major player in India’s digital payments ecosystem.
It is India’s fourth-largest UPI app, behind Walmart-owned PhonePe, Google Pay, and Paytm.
The app processed over 947 million transactions valued at ₹483.18 billion (about $5.05 billion) in July, per data from the National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI).
Navi Finserv, its lending arm, has more than ₹130 billion (about $1.4 billion) in assets under management.
The startup serves hundreds of millions of users across India.
Background on the founders and investors
Sachin Bansal co-founded Flipkart with Binny Bansal in 2007 and helped turn the online bookseller into India’s leading e-commerce company. He left Flipkart and sold his stake in 2018 shortly before Walmart closed the deal to acquire a majority stake in the firm.
Prosus, the global investment group, has been an active investor in Indian tech. This $100 million injection marks its first foray into Navi, providing the fintech with institutional backing as it gears up for its next phase of growth and a potential public listing.
What this means for Navi’s future
As Navi raises funding from a global player like Prosus, the fintech gains not only capital but also strategic expertise for scaling. With a potential IPO on the horizon and consolidated profitability achieved, the company appears positioned for its next chapter of growth in India’s competitive fintech landscape.
