Flipkart Co-Founder Sachin Bansal Enters Financial Services Sector, Invests Rs 740 Crore Into Rural Credit-Focussed NBFC 

Sachin Bansal who exited Flipkart with about $1 billion in pocket, has invested Rs 740 crore ($104 million) into Bengaluru-headquartered Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Private Limited (CRIDS), a non-banking financial company (NBFC).

The former CEO and co-founder of Flipkart will take charge as CEO of the micro-finance company CRIDS, it said in a statement on Wednesday (25 September).

CRIDS was formed in 2012 as an NBFC to serve the rural population of the country in their financial needs.

It provides loans and organises financial literacy campaigns in rural communities in states like Karnataka, Bihar, Jharkhand, Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh.

CRIDS's co-founders Samit Shetty and Anand Rao will continue in their roles.

"This acquisition is our entry into financial services," Bansal said in a statement.

"Samit and Anand have built a great company that provides much needed financial access to people who don't have access to other formal finance. I look forward to working closely with Samit and Anand and building further on the solid work they have done," he added.

"We are looking forward to benefiting from his insights and experience with technology, and how that can be leveraged for improving access to financial services, financial inclusion and making our business better, more sustainable and customer-centric," Shetty added.

Bansal exited Flipkart when Walmart bought a controlling stake (77 per cent) in it for a whopping $16 billion on 9 May, 2018.

He later sold his 5.5 per cent stake in Flipkart for $1 billion.

In February, Bansal invested Rs 650 crore, or about $92 million, in ride-hailing platform Ola in his personal capacity as an investor.