Jar, a fintech company from India, has achieved profitability by enabling millions of people, many of whom are saving for the first time, to use its app to accumulate digital gold.
Unlike most consumer fintechs that cater to well-off city dwellers or push credit, Jar has found success by leveraging gold—a familiar and trusted asset in Indian culture—as an easy gateway for savings. Established four years ago, Jar focuses on serving lower- and middle-income groups, which are often overlooked by mainstream banks, by allowing users to start their gold savings with just ₹10 (approximately $0.11) per day.
This approach has enabled Jar to amass a user base of more than 35 million people spread across 12,000 postal zones, according to co-founder and CEO Nishchay AG. He shared in an interview that roughly 60% of users come from India’s smaller towns and cities (tier-2 and tier-3), and over 95% are saving in a structured way for the first time, he told TechCrunch.
Jar’s financial reports show strong growth, and two people with direct knowledge told TechCrunch that the company is considering a stock market debut next year. Investment bankers have started discussions with Jar about its potential IPO, the sources revealed.
These bankers are presenting a robust growth narrative. Jar’s operating income, mainly from its flagship gold-saving app, surged nine times in fiscal 2024 (ending in March), reaching ₹2.08 billion (about $23.6 million), as per its recent disclosures. More notably, Jar’s total revenue across all its business lines climbed to ₹24.50 billion (nearly $279.3 million) over the same period—a 49-fold increase from the ₹500 million ($5.7 million) recorded the previous financial year (FY24).
This overall revenue includes proceeds from digital gold trades, jewelry sales through the Nek platform, and commissions from third-party distribution agreements.
Jewelry sales form a significant part of Jar’s diversified strategy. Nek, launched early last year, offers a range of gold, silver, diamond, and lab-grown diamond jewelry in more than 8,000 postal zones. The platform uses a drop-shipping model without holding inventory. It surpassed ₹1 billion (about $11 million) in annual revenue last year and, according to Nishchay, has continued to grow since then.
Nishchay told TechCrunch that Jar has recorded net profits for the last two quarters in a row.
This expansion is linked to a strategic shift within the company. Up until last year, Jar primarily acted as a channel for a third-party digital gold provider, essentially serving as a broker. Since then, Jar has brought more operations in-house, developing its own technology infrastructure to directly acquire, store, and manage gold. BDO acts as its auditor and Brinks as its custodian. By overseeing the entire process, Jar can now claim a larger slice of the gold market and distribute its gold through other third-party platforms, including PhonePe, a fintech firm owned by Walmart.
Earlier this year, the Bengaluru-based company formed partnerships with both BharatPe and Unity Small Finance Bank to enable users to send and receive digital payments—both peer-to-peer and to merchants—directly within the Jar app by leveraging India’s Unified Payments Interface (UPI). UPI is the leading digital payment network in India, allowing instant transfers between bank accounts via mobile devices. This move not only offers a fresh revenue opportunity but also aims to boost user activity and loyalty by expanding the app’s functions beyond just saving in gold.
Jar was also among the first to implement UPI AutoPay, a service introduced by the Indian government in 2020 to facilitate recurring payments through UPI. As Jar only supports UPI for gold purchases, this feature has reportedly increased repeat transactions from its users, according to people familiar with the company.
“Our standout feature is daily savings, which is the primary reason most people use our app,” Nishchay said regarding the impact UPI AutoPay has had on Jar’s expansion.
The app attracts users from a wide range of backgrounds, including professionals in IT and manufacturing, small business operators, and daily laborers such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and construction workers. The app offers support for nine Indian languages, which the company says enables it to serve users from varied educational and income backgrounds.
Jar has also tailored its app to deliver a personalized experience, utilizing gamification and prompts to motivate users to save in gold.
“Our growth team has constantly built different user segments by analyzing multiple attributes and data points—such as the type of phone, user location, language preference, and consistent saving behaviors—taking all these factors into account,” Nishchay explained.
Among Jar’s investors are Tiger Global, Tribe Capital, Arkam Ventures, and WEH Ventures. According to Tracxn, the company has raised $63.3 million in total funding and was last valued at over $300 million.
