True Balance, a fintech app run by Balancehero Co. Ltd., announced their series B round in triumph. The company from Gurgaon raised rupees 100 crores from existing investor SoftBank Ventures Korea and others including Korean investors, IMM Investment Group, Mega Investment, Korea Development Bank and American Investment Bank, Capstone Partners.
Capstone Partners was formerly a wholly owned subsidiary of Arthur Andersen LLP, prior to the auditing firm accepting the criminal charges filed against it related to the Enron scandal of 2001.
SoftBank Ventures Korea is a subsidiary of Masayoshi Son’s SoftBank. The firm also participated in the series A funding round of True Balance.
Although the announcement was made public today, February 20th, the round was closed in November 2016.
True Balance is a mobile app that lets its users check their mobile call & data balances. It started off and further developed from the realization of the inconvenience of prepaid mobile users who were having to check their balances countless times a day. The competitive advantages of True Balance app are the ability to check the mobile balance without internet connection, friendly UI and UX designs compared to similar apps and a quick recharge feature, called a one tap recharge.
The founder of True Balance is a Korean native who now lives in Gurugram. Cheolwon Lee originally from Gangnam in Korea, is a serial mobile entrepreneur and has been a resident of India for over a decade. So that explains why so many Korean investors were attracted to a startup in Gurugram.
Although SoftBank announced devaluing their Ola and Snapdeal stakes by 425 million dollars, Masayoshi Son, chairman of SoftBank Group, had announced in December 2015 that SoftBank is committed to investing 10 billion dollars in India because the subcontinent has one of the most promising markets for ROI in the world.
It’s a good sign for startups and the Indian economy at large that SoftBank continues to be bullish on investing in Bharat. The Japanese group, along with Tiger Global, Sequoia and Accel were one of the maiden, big time investors that triggered the upward ascent of Startup India the ecosystem is witnessing today.
BW Reporters
Regina is a reporter for BW Businessworld. In her previous assignments, she has worked with Independent television Network as a news anchor and reporter in Sri Lanka
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