Slice in Advanced Funding Talks to Raise $100 Million from Accel, Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, and Other Investors.

Slice Nears $80-100 Million Funding Round, Marking a Correction in Valuation

Bengaluru-based fintech firm Slice is in advanced stages to raise $80-100 million in a fresh round from Accel, Elevation Capital, Peak XV Partners, and others as the company looks to expand its physical and digital reach across the country. According to people familiar with the developments, this funding round will be Slice's first major round since its transition into a small finance bank (SFB).

Slice, valued at just under $1 billion in ongoing negotiations, is marking a correction from its $1.3-1.4 billion valuation in 2022, as per Tracxn, a private markets data provider. The funding round is expected to include a secondary component, such as liquidity for ESOP holders, which could potentially exceed $100 million.

Late-Stage Fundraising with Pure-Play Venture Capital Firms

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If the talks materialize, Slice will also mark the first time the new-age lending and payments company brings pure-play venture capital firms onto its cap table during late-stage fundraising. All three investors - Accel, Elevation, and Peak XV Partners - are likely to infuse capital into Slice from their late-stage investment arms.

The incoming VC firms see an opportunity to integrate their portfolio companies with Slice's banking stack, reducing reliance on legacy banks. Slice is among the few fintech startups in India to hold a banking license.

Slice's Banking Play and Expansion

Slice acquired North East Small Finance Bank (NESFB) in 2023 and later merged the entity to form Slice Small Finance Bank, marking its transition from a fintech startup to a licensed deposit-taking bank. Since then, Slice has been diversifying its offerings, including lending to micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSME) and merchants, as well as offering fully digital loans.

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With the foray into merchant payments and lending, Slice competes directly with the likes of Paytm, PhonePe, Google Pay, and BharatPe, among others. As of October, Slice's deposits have doubled since the merger, with the company issuing around 3 lakh bank accounts to customers every month, putting it in the top 5-7 among bank account issuances across the country - close to HDFC's scale.

Growing List of Large Funding Rounds

Slice is the latest new-age startup to initiate a large-ticket funding round, joining a growing list of startups which are in the advanced stages of raising fresh, and large, capital. Even as investors remain cautious amid the West Asia crisis, startups are still managing to piece together funding rounds - though closures are taking longer and valuations are more tempered.