Summary
Gurugram-headquartered wealthtech platform Centricity Wealth Tech raised INR 280 crore (~$29-33 million) in a Series A led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund, the corporate venture fund jointly established by Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation and Incubate Fund Asia. Existing backers including Lightspeed India Partners, Burman Family Office, RAAY Investments, and others participated. The capital will fund expansion of Centricity's B2B2C wealth distribution network, technology enhancements, and growth of its private wealth and NRI advisory verticals, including expansion through GIFT City (India) and DIFC (UAE).
Key Facts
- INR 280 crore (~$29-33M) Series A led by SMBC Asia Rising Fund
- SMBC Asia Rising Fund: corporate VC jointly established by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation + Incubate Fund Asia
- Existing backers: Lightspeed India Partners, Burman Family Office, RAAY Investments (Amit Patni), Kuldeep Rathi Family Office, Stride Ventures, InnoVen Capital
- Centricity founded 2022 by CEO Manu Awasthy + co-founders
- B2B2C model: One Digital (marketplace/practice mgmt for independent advisors) + Invictus (institutional analytics for single-family offices)
- Network of over 20,000 financial distributors
- Plans to hire 50+ private bankers (domestic) + 35-40 for foreign currency/NRI accounts
- Expanding through GIFT City (India) and DIFC (UAE)
- Prior funding: $4M pre-seed (2022, $20M valuation), $20M seed (2024, $125M valuation, Lightspeed-led)
- Revenue: INR 13.5 crore FY23; expects >INR 150 crore FY27 (~200% YoY growth)
- SMBC's sixth major equity deployment in India (also Shivalik Small Finance Bank, DPDzero, Vayana Network)
- Indian wealthtech startups raised over $200M across 12 institutional rounds recently (TheKredible)
Why It Matters
The SMBC-Centricity deal highlights a broader trend of Japanese banking groups investing directly in South Asian fintech to secure early distribution infrastructure for India's booming wealth market. As Indian household savings shift from physical assets to financial instruments, wealthtech infrastructure providers are attracting significant capital. For SMBC, Centricity's 20,000+ distributor network offers a channel to distribute foreign-currency products and cross-border strategies to Indian family offices and HNWIs; for Centricity, SMBC provides institutional credit, FX clearing, and structured product access.