About —
Grip Invest is a new age investment platform where users can co-invest in physical assets like vehicles, furniture, and equipment, which are leased to corporates. Retail investors participate by investing money as low as Rs. 20,000 and earn fixed non-market linked monthly payouts.
They have facilitated investments worth more than Rs.237 crore till mid-April’22 for companies like Uber, Udaan, Furlenco, IPL Tech, Zypp, Vogo, Holisol, Rent Mojo, Stanza Living among others.
Grip has categories of Leasing, Inventory, Startup Equity, and recently launched Commercial Property. They are planning to foray into more such categories and provide other investment opportunities to retail investors.
· Founders — Nikhil Aggarwal, Vivek Gulati, and Aashish Jindal
· Founded — June 2020
· Headquarters — Gurugram, Haryana
Mission —
To act as a bridge for asset capital between companies and investors with attractive risk-reward ratios and ease of transaction
Funding —
Till January 2022, Grip has raised $4.6 Million from investors like Anicut Capital, Venture Highway, Endiya Partners.
How it works? –
Grip takes the requirements from the company that wants to lease vehicles, furniture, equipment, or any other assets. Grip performs due diligence and evaluates 3 major aspects: Financials, Management profile, and business performance. After having clear visibility that the lessee is capable of servicing the lease payments, Grip onboards the partner and lists the investment opportunity.
After getting the required amount from investors, Grip set up an LLP through which they will purchase the assets from OEMs and lease them to the partners. The Partnered companies pay the monthly EMIs and maturity amount to LLP. Lastly, Grip deduct the taxes and management fees, and distribute the post-tax returns to investors.
Revenue Model –
Grip mostly earns its revenue via commissions. They charge approximately 2% commission on monthly returns users get and a 1% upfront processing fee from its lessees (leasing partners).
Grip also takes a certain (approximately 10%) amount as a security deposit, which, can be utilized along with assets bought, to repay the investors in case the company fails to pay the EMI.
User Base –
According to Grip, people from 57 countries (or 532 cities) invest on their platform. They majorly target retail investors between the ages of 25 and 40 who are working professionals. These investors already investing in mutual funds and fixed-income securities and are looking to diversify their holdings in order to get a greater risk-adjusted return. Additionally, Grip partners with small to mid-sized companies that are looking to lease assets to run their daily operations and earn revenue.
User pain points and their solution by Grip Invest –
Grip is attempting to solve two problems simultaneously: one with the individual investor from the retail investor side, who currently has limited investment options; and second, an authentic platform to assist startups in raising capital and maintaining an asset-light model.
Strengths –
1. Seamless, low friction interface that’s a delight to use and easy to track.
2. Great Post-tax return helps in getting yield similar to share market with the risk profile of debt.
3. Outstanding customer service
4. Transparency
5. Great retention score: 40% of investors over Grip have invested more than once.
Challenges –
Due to the model’s unique nature, there is nothing comparable on the market today. Another significant barrier is trust. Given the financial nature of the transaction, trust is critical. To address the problem, the Grip targeted firms with strong credit ratings, which retail investors could trust.
Competitors –
Other alternative investment platforms, such as Strata, LegalPay, RealX, Pyse, hBits, and India Investment Grid, compete with Grip Invest. These platforms permit investments in a variety of assets, including real estate, sustainable initiatives, and litigation.
Conclusion –
Grip enables investors to access such high-yield non-market linked fixed income investment opportunities by addressing both the issue of a low minimum ticket size and a great user experience. Retail investors have invested Rs. 237 crores till now and have returned of Rs. 60 crores. Grip is planning to introduce several new investment products this year in 2022. They are planning to grow 5x to Rs. 1000 crore in total transaction value by the end of 2022.
Disclaimer — This is not affiliated with the official website/organization. This case study is purely educational in nature. All photos are attributed to their respective owners.