Belong, a fintech startup targeting the Non-Resident Indian (NRI) market, has raised $5 million in a seed funding round led by Elevation Capital, marking its official launch.
The company said the round also saw participation from Relentless Ventures and a group of angel investors, including Urban Company co-founders Abhiraj Singh Bahl and Varun Khaitan, Zomato CFO Akshant Goyal, Mamaearth CEO Varun Alagh, PayU SVP Vineet Sethi, and McKinsey Partner Aditya Sharma.
The startup claims to be the first fintech to offer USD Fixed Deposits to NRIs through India’s GIFT City—an International Financial Services Centre designed to streamline cross-border financial transactions. Belong is initially rolling out the product in the UAE, home to the largest overseas Indian population.
“Being away from India comes with its own challenges—from complex cross-border banking to managing investments remotely,” said Ankur Choudhary, Co-founder and CEO of Belong.
“Every NRI has built a global identity through hard work and ambition, but financial services haven’t kept up. We’re building Belong to be the trusted financial home for Global Indians—starting with simple, secure access to USD Fixed Deposits through GIFT City.”
Belong says it has obtained a Payment Services Provider (PSP) license and a Broker Dealer license under IFSCA (International Financial Services Centres Authority), allowing it to offer a broader set of regulated financial products to NRIs. The company is partnering with Indian banks operating within GIFT City for its deposit products.
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“NRIs have long been underserved when it comes to modern, digital-first financial solutions tailored to their unique needs,” said Vaas Bhaskar, Partner at Elevation Capital. “Belong is uniquely positioned to serve this massive, underserved market by combining deep fintech expertise with GIFT City’s regulatory framework.”
According to Belong, NRIs sent $129 billion in remittances to India in 2024, up from $82 billion in 2019. However, their share in mutual fund assets under management declined from 2.9% to 2.3% in the same period, a trend the company attributes to regulatory complexity and poor user experience.
Belong aims to address those gaps with features like doorstep KYC, no requirement for NRE/NRO bank accounts, simplified repatriation (sending money back to the depositor’s country of residence), and tax-free returns in India. The company says its USD Fixed Deposit product shields users from INR depreciation while offering secure, regulated returns.
Beyond its initial offering, Belong has developed a set of digital tools tailored for NRIs, including a fixed deposit rates explorer, GIFT Nifty tracker, compliance guide, tax residency calculator, and currency tracker. It also plans to launch an NRI-focused tax filing service aimed at providing transparent and affordable alternatives to what it calls “NRI markup” pricing.
The company plans to expand beyond the UAE to other major NRI markets including the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, the UK, and the US. It also intends to introduce new products such as mutual funds, Indian and U.S. equities, globally valid insurance, and financial cards—all under the GIFT City framework.
Founded in 2024 by fintech professionals Ankur Choudhary, Sai Sankar M, Ayush Singh, and Savitri Bobde, Belong operates through its parent entity Betafront Technologies Pvt Ltd and its GIFT City subsidiaries. The company positions itself as a full-stack financial platform purpose-built for the global Indian diaspora.
