Fintech Start-up Keeper Secures Rs 5 Crore Funding Led By Antler
The firm says Keeper aims to provide a financial solution that enables employees to access the cash value of their unused paid leave while still employed.
Fintech startup Keeper has raised Rs 5 crore in a funding round led by Antler, with additional investments from Samved VC and industry professionals from Deloitte, Swiggy, and other firms. The company says it aims to provide a financial solution that enables employees to access the cash value of their unused paid leave while still employed.
Traditionally, paid leave benefits could only be encashed upon resignation or retirement. Keeper’s platform seeks to offer an alternative by allowing employees to convert their accumulated leave into liquidity without disrupting business operations. The company states that because paid leave serves as collateral for lenders, this model provides employees with an affordable form of credit.
The funding comes at a time when the government has passed new labour codes, including one that will mandate employers to compensate workers who have not availed more than 30 days of leave. Under the new reforms, which are yet to be implemented, unused paid leave will no longer expire, and employees will be entitled to receive the cash equivalent of the excess leaves in case the annual leave balance exceeds 30 at the end of the calendar year.
'$10 Billion+ Worth Of Paid Leaves Lying Completely Unutilised'
Shubhranshu Kumar, Co-founder and CEO of Keeper, said: “Paid leave benefits have long been an untapped resource for employees, while also posing a financial liability for employers. At Keeper, we are creating a win-win solution—employees gain immediate access to their leave value, and employers can streamline their liability management in light of the upcoming labour reforms."
Commenting on the investment, Nitin Sharma, Partner at Antler India, noted: “Banks and NBFCs have so far dominated the market for large ticket personal loans but they provide a sub-optimal experience to customers. Fintechs have emerged as a clear leader in smaller ticket loans in the last few years but they charge very high APRs. To solve these issues, Keeper is building a platform to provide a secured credit line with lower APRs and higher ticket loans with instant disbursals, by leveraging paid leaves as collateral."
He added: “In our estimates, there’s ~$10 Billion+ worth of paid leaves lying completely unutilised. Working directly with employers, Keeper can achieve this with a relatively lower acquisition cost and builds a strong trust with the customer. Eventually, they can enable credit in various form factors (credit cards, credit line on UPI, merchant subvention loans, etc.) to service the customer better and increase repeat usage."
Keeper was founded in 2023 by Shubhranshu Kumar and Sushant Mehta. Shubhranshu is an MBA graduate from IIM Ahmedabad and has previously worked at an RBI-regulated NBFC. Sushant is a computer science graduate from Manipal University.
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