Lxme Secures $1.2 Million Seed Funding to Empower Women in Financial Planning

In a significant development for women-centric financial services, Lxme, a financial platform exclusively for women, has raised $1.2 million in seed funding. The funding round was led by Kalaari Capital through its CXXO initiative, which is dedicated to supporting ventures helmed by women entrepreneurs.

The funding round saw participation from prominent investors including Yash Kela, founder and chief investment officer of Singularity Ventures; Amaya Ventures; Capri Holdings; and Aditi Kothari, vice chairperson of DSP Asset Managers, among others. The newly acquired funds will be directed towards enhancing Lxme's brand-building and user acquisition efforts across India. Additionally, the platform plans to upgrade its technology and product stack to improve user experience and engagement.

Priti Rathi Gupta, founder of Lxme, emphasized the platform's mission to transform women's savings into substantial financial growth. "With digitization and the democratization of financial products, it is a great time to get women onto financial platforms or products. I wouldn't really call it financial inclusion, but I would say financialization of their savings,” Gupta told ET.

Launched in 2021, Lxme is a pioneering fintech platform designed to empower women with tailored financial products such as mutual funds, loans, and prepaid shopping cards. It also offers financial education to help women make informed financial decisions and provides access to a supportive community of over 400,000 women. The platform generates revenue primarily through trail income from mutual fund offerings and from acting as an aggregator for other financial products like lending and fixed deposits.

Looking ahead, Gupta stated that Lxme aims to have assets under management (AUM) of around Rs 1,200 crore by 2026, underscoring the platform's ambitious growth trajectory.

The CXXO initiative by Kalaari Capital, launched in 2021, focuses on investing in startups with women founders in key decision-making roles. It also provides mentorship and community support to these entrepreneurs, further bolstering their chances of success.

Despite these positive developments, challenges remain for women-led startups in India. On May 16, ET reported a decline in funding for women-led startups, which fell to 9.3% in 2023 from 14.7% in 2021. According to the 2023 annual report of WinPe, a not-for-profit organization by private equity investors advocating for gender diversity, female founders in India received less than 10% of funding last year, lagging behind their counterparts in Europe and the US.

As Lxme continues to grow and innovate, it stands as a beacon of progress in the fintech industry, showcasing the potential and importance of supporting women-led enterprises in bridging the gender disparity gap in financial services.