Raise Financial Services, a fintech startup founded by Pravin Jadhav, former CEO of Paytm Money, has acquired stockbroking firm Moneylicious Securities for an undisclosed sum.

According to Jadhav, the acquisition has received all necessary approvals from India's capital markets regulator, the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi), stock exchanges (BSE, NSE, and MCX), and the Central Depository Services (India) Ltd.

Moneylicious, which was founded in 2012, is a registered stockbroker and a member of most major stock exchanges, including the BSE, NSE, and MCX, as well as a CDSL depository participant.

“The way we envisage to build Raise Financial Services is to have it as a holding company with several lines of business as subsidiaries. Acquisition of Moneylicious is the first step in this direction,” said Jadhav.

Raise intends to launch its stock trading and investment product by the end of this year, and it is also in the early stages of discussions to integrate insurance and money management services.

Raise Financial received seed funding in February from Mirae Asset's early stage fund, as well as US-based Social Leverage, Blume Ventures Founders' Fund, and Multi-Act Equity. The company is now nearing the end of a larger Series A round.

Raise Financial will focus on providing a money management platform for financially savvy customers with a diverse wealth portfolio. It will also enter the insurance distribution business, focusing on urban India.

“With the acquisition of Moneylicious we have onboarded a strong 15-member team specialising across product and engineering in building investment service for over 6-7 years,” Jadhav said. “Furthermore, we will also get the requisite licenses held by Moneylicious for starting an investment business.”

Raise will continue to look for similar opportunities to acquire startups in finance verticals in order to ramp up its efforts in setting up teams in product, technology, and operations, he said.

“Retail participation in stock markets witnessed a significant increase in the past 18 months, this momentum and interest is irreversible. Acquisition of Moneylicious Securities enables us to enter the investment and wealth management space with a tech-driven platform that is built for super traders and long-term investors."

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