Fixed Income Investment platform, ‘Tap Invest’ , formerly known as ‘Leaf Round’ today announced the closure of its USD 2 Million in seed funding round. The Fintech startup is founded by Nishchay Nath, an alumnus of IIT Kharagpur & IIM Ahmedabad, and former employee at True North, one of India's prominent private equity firms, along with Soumya Kushwaha, an alumnus of IIM Ahmedabad and former McKinsey professional, and Himashu Chowdhary, an IIT Kharagpur alumnus with previous experience at Media.net and Games24x7.

This round of funding was led by Turbostart, a major player in India's startup ecosystem. Snow Leopard Ventures, a global investment firm with a robust footprint in India, actively participated in this funding round alongside well-known angel investors like Kunal Shah, Founder of Cred, and Kashyap Shah, the CPO & CEO of Creditstar UK. The startup’s existing investors Upsparks and Superb Capital too continued to support the platform into this round as well.

Speaking on the development, Nishchay Nath, CEO and Founder of Tap Invest (Formerly Leaf Round) said, “The fixed income investment category in India today accounts for approximately 70% of all investment assets. This is an indicator that there is a tremendous opportunity and potential for growth in this category. India is witnessing a rise in digital investment and it's the right time for fintech firms like Tap Invest to step in and make these digital investment adoption processes seamless by building a compliant ecosystem, which is ‘responsible’ and offers tech enabled products and services to its users.” 
He further adds, "The current fundraise reinforces the confidence in the category and our ability to build a meaningful business, even amidst the challenges of a funding winter.”

The transformation to ‘Tap Invest’ comes at a time when the brand's previous avatar as Leaf Round has been witnessing an exponential growth over the past year and a quarter of its operation. During this period, the platform onboarded more than 12,500 serious and quality investors who are consistently using the platform to invest into fixed income category through ‘Asset Leasing’ & ‘Invoice Discounting’. Leveraging the platform's efficient tech-enabled infrastructure, these investors have contributed to investments exceeding INR 150 Crores. This accomplishment has fueled Tap Invest, the reincarnated version, to set ambitious goals, targeting to raise INR 500 Crores by the end of 2024. The company envisions exceeding 20,000 active users engaging in investments across various instruments in the fixed income space through its platform. With such a tangible track record in the investment sector, the investors and businesses too are finding value propositions on continuing their affairs on the platform. Investors too remain confident about the potential Tap Invest has to offer. 

Commenting on behalf of Turbostart about its participation in the seed fund round, CEO Venkat Raju of Turbostart said, “LeafRound was a dream opportunity for Turbostart - a highly ambitious & capable founding team (with complementary skills), with an innovative product, going after a very large and growing market. With strong execution capabilities, LeafRound is poised to be a major Fintech player.”

The recent infusion of funds will empower Tap Invest to expand its market presence, pursue substantial growth, and diversify its range of services in the debt investment side. The company is also working to raise the category awareness among young and traditional investors about the sector and plans to drive more conversations around it with the relevant stakeholders. It feels with the increase in tremendous growth in the sector a need for ensuring transparency, trust, dependability and being compliant will be the need of the hour. 

As another key investor Chris Kolenaty, Founder Snow Leopard Ventures adds, ‘We saw that special “it” in Nishchay, Soumya and Himanshu from our initial meetings after first coming across Leaf Round as customers. Once we decided to lean in, we quickly realised about their insane levels of customer focus, high rates of iterative product development and, though early, healthy signs around retention from a cohort perspective.’

Elaborating on the need for a complete overhaul of the brand and its identity from Leaf Round to Tap Invest, the Chief Marketing Officer for the brand, Ramalingam Subramanian adds, ‘We are excited to launch our new brand and continue our mission to democratise access to fixed income opportunities. With Tap, investors can open multiple income streams with ease and confidence, knowing that they are backed by a trusted platform and expert guidance."

In addition to the rebrand, Tap Invest is expanding its product portfolio, promising a broader array of investment opportunities for its clients. The company is also actively recruiting skilled professionals across various sectors, including product, engineering, operations, sales, and marketing, to support its ambitious growth journey.