Early-stage financing secured by Belong, Chai Bisket, Green Aero, and LdotR
In the ever-evolving landscape of fintech, a new player is making waves. Belong, a startup founded in 2024, has recently secured $5 million in a seed funding round, led by Elevation Capital, with participation from Relentless Ventures and angel investors from leading Indian startups and financial firms.
Currently, Belong has launched a USD fixed deposit product in partnership with Indian banks operating at GIFT City, an International Financial Services Centre designed to facilitate cross-border financial transactions. This product offers tax-free returns in India, protection against rupee depreciation, easy repatriation, and doorstep KYC for NRIs.
The company has already secured key regulatory licences, including a Payment Services Provider (PSP) licence and a broker-dealer licence from the International Financial Services Centres Authority (IFSCA), which governs GIFT City. Belong has also rolled out a suite of digital tools tailored for NRIs, such as a fixed deposit (FD) rates explorer, a GIFT Nifty tracker, a rupee-dollar monitor, and a residential status calculator.
With the fresh influx of funds, Belong plans to expand its offerings beyond fixed deposits. The startup aims to build a broader wealth and compliance platform offering mutual funds, Indian and US equities, insurance products with global coverage, and financial cards— all structured under GIFT City's regulatory framework. The company also plans to provide India tax filing services tailored specifically for NRIs, aiming to offer a transparent and cost-effective solution for expatriates.
In addition to expanding its product suite, Belong intends to scale its operations in NRI-heavy geographies like the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the UK, and the US. The startup was co-founded and led by Vinay Singhm, Sai Sankar M, Ayush Singh, and Savitri Bobde.
Meanwhile, another startup, Chai Bisket, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by InfoEdge Ventures and General Catalyst. The digital content startup, based in Hyderabad, claims its content has garnered over 2 billion views across YouTube and other platforms, with more than 50 million monthly video views and a library of thousands of videos.
In the realm of deep tech, Green Aero, a startup incubated at IIT Delhi, raised $1.6 million in a seed funding round, led by pi Ventures and Antler. Green Aero, founded by former US Department of Energy scientist Prithwish Kundu in late 2023, is building propulsion technology for aerospace, naval, and hydrogen-powered civilian aircrafts. The funds will be used to advance product development and testing, expand teams, establish a testing facility, and accelerate the go-to-market strategy for its first engine.
Lastly, LdotR, a startup offering digital brand protection, domain portfolio management, and strategic support for the new gTLD (generic Top-Level Domain) ecosystem, raised an undisclosed amount of funding in an angel funding round, led by Key Capital's managing partner Basil Moftah and Mark Garlinghouse. The details of this round did not repeat in the provided bullet points.
Belong, with the fresh influx of funds, is planning to extend its offerings beyond fixed deposits, aiming to create a broad wealth and compliance platform that includes mutual funds, Indian and US equities, insurance products with global coverage, and financial cards, all structured under GIFT City's regulatory framework. In the context of technology, Green Aero, a startup incubated at IIT Delhi, is developing propulsion technology for aerospace, naval, and hydrogen-powered civilian aircrafts, having secured $1.6 million in a seed funding round.
