InCred Money gets Sebi in-principle nod for mutual fund licence, plans launch in 6-9 months

InCred Money has received in-principle approval from capital markets regulator Sebi for its mutual fund licence application, CEO Vijay Kuppa said in a social media post. The company expects to take another six to nine months of work before it can go live with a fund.

Kuppa traced the idea back to his earlier venture, Orowealth, the direct mutual fund platform he co-founded in 2016 along with Nitin Agrawal, Yogesh Powar and Swati Aggarwal. He said the conviction that technology could widen the adoption of investment products among Indians only grew stronger at InCred Money.

InCred Capital, the institutional and wealth management arm of the InCred Group, acquired Orowealth in an all-cash deal in early 2023, bringing in assets under management of more than Rs 1,100 crore along with its technology platform and team. Kuppa took over as CEO of the newly created InCred Money, which has since built out an integrated investment platform spanning bonds, fixed deposits, alternative assets and equity broking.

A mutual fund licence, or a Digital AMC as Kuppa termed it in his post, would extend that platform into fund manufacturing rather than just distribution. He argued that the eventual winners in the wealth-tech business will be firms that combine manufacturing with distribution under one roof, serving the full range of a client’s investment needs.

Kuppa credited the milestone to nearly six months of work led by Nitin Agrawal, his former Orowealth co-founder, who now serves as CEO of the mutual fund business at InCred Money.

The approval places InCred Money among a growing list of fintech and brokerage platforms securing Sebi nod to enter fund management.

The push comes as India’s mutual fund industry has crossed Rs 75 lakh crore in assets under management, with Sebi’s new mutual funds rules, which took effect in April, aimed at easing entry for new players through routes such as MF Lite for passive strategies.In-principle approval allows InCred Money to proceed with setting up an asset management company and trustee structure, but it will still need to clear Sebi final registration requirements, including capital and governance norms, before launching schemes.