Eko, Delhi based company that is building low cost financial services infrastructure targeting the un-banked segment has secured Series A funding from US based 4B Capital (you are reading it here first).
The capital raised in this round is intended to fund Eko’s scale up of operations in the Delhi-NCR, Bihar-Jharkhand regions. Eko believes that a field tested, predictable model will pave the way to a wider geographic rollout with additional funding.
Earlier this year, State Bank of India appointed EKo as its Business Correspondent and launched no-frills savings account for those who earn less than Rs, 5,000/ a month.
We earlier interviewed Eko founder, Abhishek Sinha [Social Entrepreneurship – Interview with Eko Founder : Entrepreneurial Journey, Challenges] where he talked about his entrepreneurial journey, learning and future plans.
Eko envisages a world where mobile phones will be the financial identity of the historically unbanked masses. The customer just walks to the neighbourhood grocer to deposit or withdraw cash, as simply and easily as getting a prepaid talk-time recharge.
I started my career with Satyam Computers and worked for their telecom division for couple of years. I soon realized that I wasn’t cut out for the corporate grind. In 2002, I left Satyam and co-founded Six DEE Telecom Solutions, a telecom value added services provider.Even while at Six DEE, I had implemented m-commerce products and always wondered why the focus was not on serving customers who had no bank accounts and cards. My dream to promote mobile phones as a financial identity for people at the bottom of the pyramid was further validated when I won the TIE-Canaan Entrepreneurial Challenge.
I exited Six DEE in February 2007 to start Eko. I would not like to call myself a social entrepreneur just yet – we still have a very long way to go!
Watch this demo video of Eko.
