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Bangalore, Sept. 11 A Little World Pvt Ltd (ALW), leveraging new generation technologies to enable financial inclusion at the bottom of the pyramid, has closed Rs 28.7 crore in Series B funding led by Bellwether Microfinance Fund Pvt Ltd and India Financial Inclusion Fund, both managed by Hyderabad-based Caspian Advisors.

Legatum Ventures, which led the Series A investment in ALW, has also invested in the new round. These investments will help the company achieve its plans to set up a technology-driven ‘Bank-in-a-Box’ in every village and facilitate rural India’s integration into the mainstream financial sector. The investment will also enable ALW to improve capacity and build its product portfolio.

By using mobile networks, ALW leverages low-cost technology to integrate micro banking with a new multi-bank payment network branded Zero. The Zero platform has been deployed in live operations by 14 banks — including major public sector banks, private and regional rural banks. The venture has a tie-up with State Bank of India for providing access to post offices, one of the largest networks at the national level.

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