Mumbai: Venture Catalysts, India’s 1st, largest, and pioneering integrated incubator and accelerator and PointOne Capital have led a pre-seed investment in NCOME, the country’s first Escrow-as-a-Service platform. The idea-phase accelerator fund, 9Unicorns, also participated in the Rs.3.6 Crore funding round, along with angel investment firm LetsVenture and other investors.

Powered by one of India’s largest private banks and a leading trusteeship company, NCOME provides enterprise and individual customers with fast, secure, and low-cost digital escrow service. It leverages cutting-edge technology to streamline conventional processes through online KYCs and digital escrow account openings. With an easy-to-use account management suite, it also enables its customers to manage their digital escrow accounts in a hassle-free manner.

Speaking on the investment, Vineet K. Singh, Co-Founder–NCOME, said, “We are over-whelmed by the response that we’ve got from Investors during these times. Escrow-as-a-Service is a huge, under-served opportunity and we feel privileged to be the amongst the First Movers in this space. Our initial traction is outstanding and more importantly industry-agnostic and it vindicates our belief that we are solving a large problem and a large, profitable business can be built in doing so.”

Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder & President – Venture Catalysts & 9Unicorns, said, “Fintech is one of the most promising and exciting sectors in India and played a major role in keeping the economy ticking during the COVID-19 outbreak. NCOME represents the next phase of the industry’s exponential growth trajectory and is addressing a massive market white space with its unique service offering. We are confident that, with an experienced founding team at its helm, it will drive greater fintech disruption by democratising digital escrow transactions for all.”

ArchanaPriyadarshini, General Partner-PointOne Capital said, “We believe NCOME will be democratizing the escrow service which is very much needed for gig economy and rise of marketplaces. It will usher in a new era of secure transactions for both buyers and sellers”.

The founding team at NCOME comes with extensive industry experience and a proven track record of growing successful businesses. Over the last two decades, its Co-founder & CEO, Vineet Singh, has built several multi-crore businesses across domains as diverse as payments, real estate, e-commerce, jobs, matrimony, and travel. Some of these include MobiKwik, Buildzar, 99acres.com, Naukri.com, NaukriGulf, Naukri Fast Forward, and Jeevansathi.com.

On the other hand, Ritesh Tiwari (Co-founder & CPO – NCOME) has more than 10 years of experience in building innovative digital payments, prepaid card, neobanking, and investment banking products. Having worked with leading global organisations such as Omnio, Ensygnia, Barclays, and JP Morgan Chase, he was also selected by the UK government under the Exceptional Talent Visa scheme in the fintech vertical and was part of its fintech delegation to India in 2019.