Dale Vaz, renowned for his role as the outgoing Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Swiggy, has made waves in the startup ecosystem with his latest venture. According to three knowledgeable insiders, Vaz has secured a substantial investment of $7-10 million for his new wealth-tech startup. The funding has been provided by prominent investors Accel and Elevation Capital, affirming their confidence in Vaz’s entrepreneurial prowess and the potential of his innovative venture.
At present, the wealth tech sector is witnessing a surge in popularity, thanks to the rapid growth of the retail investor base. In March of this year, analysts at CLSA revealed a remarkable statistic: the number of dematerialized accounts, which provide users with the ability to electronically track all their assets, has skyrocketed from 22 million in FY14 to around 113 million in FY23, marking a fivefold increase. This context underscores the opportune timing of the move into the wealth tech sector.
Given this prevailing trend, it is highly probable that investors have been motivated to support Vaz’s venture, even in an investment climate characterized by caution.
As previously reported by SnackFax, Vaz officially resigned in April and is scheduled to conclude his tenure at the food tech giant this month. Simultaneously, he has been diligently working on his wealth-tech startup in a secretive manner, opting to remain in stealth mode. As of now, Vaz has not made a final decision regarding the name of his venture.
Read More: Dale Vaz steps down as Swiggy CTO, Madhusudan Rao takes charge
Wealth-tech startups function as comprehensive platforms that enable users to engage in diverse investment opportunities across various asset classes. These platforms not only facilitate investments in mutual funds and other financial instruments but also offer the capability to trade stocks, commodities, and a wide range of other assets.
Prominent participants in this sector encompass well-known entities such as Zerodha, Groww, Upstox, Paytm Money, and other commonly recognized discount brokers.
With an extensive professional background spanning over two decades, Vaz entered the ranks of Swiggy in July 2018. Demonstrating remarkable progress, he swiftly ascended the corporate ladder and assumed the role of Chief Technology Officer (CTO) in February 2020. Prior to his tenure at Swiggy, Vaz dedicated over 10 years of his career at Amazon. Notably, his LinkedIn profile indicates that he also contributed his expertise to Infosys in the United States for a period of six years.
Over the past few weeks, Vaz has been actively disseminating valuable insights on diverse asset classes and sharing his investment strategies, with the intention of educating individuals seeking financial knowledge.
“We work so hard for our money, it’s important that we make our money work as hard for us,” Vaz tweeted on May 20.
The interest in investing and trading experienced a significant surge during the Covid-19 years, primarily driven by the restrictions imposed due to the pandemic, which confined people to their homes.
“The number of retail investors has grown consistently over the years, with a sharp uptick during Covid. This was driven by greater awareness as well as ease of transactions enabled by discount brokers,” CLSA’s report said.
“Discount brokers have facilitated retail investor participation, they have been instrumental in widening retail investor participation in India. For them, the majority of incremental customer acquisitions are happening from Tier-2 and lower locations,” it added.
While the total demat accounts quintupled, the number of unique active customers has grown at a slower pace of about 9X from 4 million in FY14 to around 34 million currently, data showed. An active investor is one who has traded at least once in the past 12 months.
However, according to a separate report by Motilal Oswal, the number of active users on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) witnessed a decline for the tenth consecutive month in April of this year. The active user count dropped to approximately 31.2 million, down from 38 million in July 2022, reflecting a waning enthusiasm among retail investors.
Attempts were made to contact Dale Vaz for a statement on the matter, but he stated that he was unable to comment due to a confidentiality agreement. Elevation Capital did not provide a response to an email requesting further information, while efforts to reach Accel for comment were unsuccessful.
