Karbon Card Raises $2 Million Seed Funding Led by Angel Investors

Karbon Card is a revolutionary fintech company that issues corporate cards to Indian startups.  It has raised $2 million seed funding led by prolific angels from India and China, including well-known names such as Kunal Shah (Cred), Amrish Rau (Ex PayU) and Jitendra Gupta (Jupiter) among others. The core founding team at Karbon includes four professionals with years of experience in the VC world and in startups.

The company plans to use the funds raised for product development, operations and market expansion.  Aimed at providing a financial platform for Indian entrepreneurs, the start-up offers corporate cards packed with tools and rewards for new age startups. The interest-free corporate credit card includes rewards specific to startups such as AWS credit, MaketMyTrip/Uber/Hubspot/Freshworks discounts, etc. and expense management software among others.

Commenting on the development Pei-fu Hsieh, Co-Founder and CEO at Karbon Card said, “Building a startup and pursuing your passion can be quite challenging.  Along the journey, many founders wish the banks could be more appreciative and supportive of the startups’ ambitions.  Unfortunately, the banks’ position to protect their customers’ savings at all cost make their requirements and policies rigid and unfriendly to startups.  Karbon Card is a startup founded for all Indian startups.  Our vision is to empower all startups to achieve more through a Karbon Card.  We will strive to improve your cashflow with credit, help you to spend wiser and manage better through our suite of products.  Let us worry about these issues while you focus on changing the world.”

Amit Jangir, Co-Founder at Karbon Card further adds “The journey to building Karbon Card has been dotted by many ups and downs, as is the case with most startups. However, our greatest moment of pride was when we observed that the majority of our early customers have begun to refer and unequivocally praise the Karbon Card to other startups. This validation along with the continued support from hundreds of other startups such as Cred, Jumbotail, MyGate, among others have been incredibly encouraging to our team, assuring us that we are on the right track.”

Echoing the statement, Jitendra Gupta, founder of Jupiter, adds “I can see first-hand that within a short span of a few months, Karbon Card has been embraced by many Indian startups. We see massive potential for this sector in India. I myself am not just an investor but also an avid user of Karbon Card.”

Karbon Card is founded by a passionate bunch of ex-entrepreneurs and VCs. The core team deeply understands the numerous challenges that an entrepreneur faces to grow its business. As a startup grows, it requires a corporate card to pay for various basic expenses such as those for digital marketing, SaaS-based tools, cloud infrastructure providers etc. However, traditional banks do not understand startups enough to issue them a credit card.  And even if they do, it is overwhelming with numerous challenges wherein the banks ask for a personal guarantee from startup founders and a 110% fixed deposit as collateral, making it impossible for the founders to avail a basic financial instrument. Karbon Card believes there is a much better solution to this. Not only do we make it incredibly easy for the founders to get a card, but we can also be their trusted partner to enable their growth. Karbon Card requires no fixed deposit, no personal guarantee, and can be issued in less than 24 hours. It does not have any hidden interest expenses or fees whatsoever.

Main value proposition

• Credit:With no personal guarantee of the founder(s) and without a need for securing any fixed deposits, a startup can qualify for credit from Karbon (funded startups with more than 25L in cash). Karbon's offerings help to improve cash flow and enable startup founders to use all its funds to grow its business.
• Rewards:The company offers rewards worth $50,000 upon signup that are specific to startups, such as AWS Activate, discounts from MakeMyTrip, Uber, WeWork and many other Saas products (Hubspot, Segment, Freshworks, etc). We are constantly adding more rewards to our platform after taking feedback from our customers and understanding their needs.
• Expense Management:An intelligent expense management tool that enables founders to understand where company expenses are spent and the respective changes over time. With its easy reconciliation features, employees can navigate between their multitudes of expense reports and get it reimbursed in no time.