Athira Sethu
Kochi, 17 January 2025
In efforts to expand its financial services in one of its fastest-growing markets, Amazon announced acquiring Axio, an Indian buy-now, pay-later startup. It said that Amazon held a stake in Axio for the past six years and sealed the acquisition deal with Axio last December after finishing due diligence.
The financial terms of the deal have not been disclosed, but sources say it is worth more than $150 million. The transaction is still awaiting approval from the Indian central bank.
Bengaluru-headquartered Axio, formerly known as Capital Float has raised $135 million from investors such as Peak XV Partners, Ribbit Capital, and Elevation Capital. The fintech startup provides credit to self-employed individuals and households at the time of purchase on e-commerce websites such as Amazon and MakeMyTrip. Axio claims to have 10 million plus customers in addition to a loan book valued at more than $260 million.
In India, access to traditional credit is limited, and banks often find small loans unprofitable. With this in mind, Axio helps fill the gap by offering a regulated lending platform that quickly evaluates a customer’s creditworthiness. Its system can approve loans in just five seconds with just two clicks.
However, Axio has faced challenges in maintaining growth, similar to other startups in this space. For example, ZestMoney, a competitor backed by Goldman Sachs, struggled and was sold last year. Axio also competes with Bajaj Finance, a leading player in India’s financial services market.
This is Amazon’s second India acquisition in less than a year. In June, it purchased video streaming service MX Player. Amazon has made an investment worth more than $10 billion in India through these acquisitions so far as a result of sustained growth in the country.
