Mutual fund platform PowerUp Money raises $12M funding led by Peak XV

PowerUp Money raised $12 million in a Series A funding round led by Peak XV, as the Bengaluru-based wealthtech startup looks to scale its mutual fund advisory business.

Existing investors Accel, Blume Ventures, and Kae Capital participated in the round, alongside 8i Ventures and DevC, the company said in a statement on Monday.

The funding comes about six months after PowerUp Money raised $7.2 million in a seed round. The startup plans to use the fresh capital to expand its research and advisory capabilities, scale its paid products, and invest in financial literacy initiatives.

Founded in 2024 by Prateek Jindal, PowerUp Money operates as a zero-commission mutual fund advisory platform, and is registered with the Securities and Exchange Board of India as a Registered Investment Advisor. The company positions itself as offering research-led and unbiased advice, charging users a subscription fee rather than earning commissions from fund manufacturers.

The startup said that access to high-quality advice has not kept pace with this growth, leaving many investors reliant on informal guidance or short-term performance metrics.

“High-quality, unbiased mutual fund advice should not be a privilege. As more Indians participate in mutual funds, the real gap lies in access to credible, research-led advice that helps investors make disciplined, long-term decisions,” Jindal said in the statement.

Within eight months of launch, the PowerUp Money app has onboarded more than 500,000 users and is tracking over Rs 65,000 crore in assets, the company said.

Its flagship subscription product, PowerUp Elite, charges an annual fee of Rs 999 and offers personalised mutual fund advisory, including portfolio reviews, rebalancing, and asset allocation. The startup said the product has more than 25,000 paid members.

PowerUp Money is also preparing to launch PowerUp Infinite, a fully managed advisory product, offering one-on-one advisory and goal-based investment strategies. It aims to onboard 10 million users over the next three years.

Commenting on the investment, Navendu Sharma, Principal at Peak XV, said, “India needs a technology-led platform to deliver financial advice at a population scale. Mutual funds are the natural gateway to financial assets for mass and affluent Indians.”

He added, “PowerUp has a clever yet simple approach to scaling MF advisory. We are excited to see the team deepen their MF suite and, over time, build the dominant wealth and asset management platform for the region.”

“What PowerUp Money has built with Elite is particularly compelling. They’ve successfully productised high-quality mutual fund advisory—making it accessible at scale while retaining a high degree of personalisation and quality. That balance is extremely difficult to achieve in wealth management,” Prayank Swaroop, Partner at Accel, said.