By Gaurav Hinduja and Sashank Rishyasringa

“To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” — Ulysses

Earlier today, we at axio / Capital Float announced the completion of our acquisition by Amazon 🙌. It marks the close of one chapter and the start of a new one. And we couldn’t be more excited (and candidly, also a bit relieved 😅).

Building this company has been the great adventure of our lives. It has taken us to dizzying highs at the frontlines of India’s fintech story, and brought us to the very verge of despair and back. It has challenged us to press on and not give up, making us mentally, emotionally, and physically stronger.

13 years ago, we sat in Arbuckle library at Stanford GSB and wrote down three things that we wanted to achieve as entrepreneurs: 1) Build a billion-dollar business, 2) leverage technology, and 3) impact millions of people’s lives. Looking back, these feel like the naïve musings of two fresh grads emerging from two years in the Silicon Valley bubble. But we are grateful for the idealism of that library that gave us the impetus to start up, and the (slightly delusional) confidence to make this leap into lending in India.

Looking back, three different things, simpler but core, have made this journey worthwhile:

#1: The joy of inventing

We have loved creating new credit products for customers that did not exist before. Pioneering these — instant SME loans, co-lending, PFM, embedded checkout finance — to go deeper into India’s credit pyramid, has given us our mojo. Some worked, some failed, and some we couldn’t pursue further, but each has been eye-opening. At times, this has come at a cost — multiple pivots, risk blow-ups, and backsliding on profitability. But we have also been a part of transforming how lending can work for all Indians, and this has been deeply satisfying. Over time, we have sought to balance our urge to experiment with guardrails, weigh when to push vs. pull back, and greet risk not as an enemy but an old friend. A little of this, we have learned and are grateful for.

#2: Living in the arena

Inventing gave us intellectual highs. But the hard realities of lending always brought us back down to earth. We have faced multiple setbacks. We have stared into the abyss more than once, wondering if this time was the end. No founder starts out dreaming about resilience. But, over time, it has become the quality we prize most as a team. Liquidity crises, a failed M&A, a pandemic, a down round, funding winters, regulatory changes, and credit cycles… Wrestling with these, trying to pull rabbits out of hats, grinding a way back each time — these have given us sleepless nights, but also fired us up more than any business metric. We are proud of these victories as a team and the storms that we have navigated together. And, we are equally excited now for some sunshine.

#3: Taking care of people

Five years ago, during one such moment, we wrote this in our blog — “During such times, you realise that there is a special kind of team member. They are fiercely committed, back the vision, and have the courage to stand by your side through thick and thin.” Looking back, this has been the most fulfilling part of our journey — our Team. Many first joined us in their 20s and 30s and are now leaders in their own right, have created families and built lives along the way, stood by us when things got tough, many times sacrificing better opportunities and start-up ambitions. To you, we toast this milestone and say thank you.

To our investors and board members who kept us accountable and held our hand when it mattered, your permanent belief and the occasional criticism gave us the strength to keep building and pushing forward. This moment is as much yours as it is ours. To you and all the partners in our business, we are deeply thankful for the trust and friendship shown along the way.

Looking ahead

Over the past decade, we’ve served over 10 million customers and disbursed ₹35,000 crore in loans. Our NPAs today stand at 1.8%. But it is still Day 1 for this business.

We are full of optimism for this new journey with Amazon. Ours has been a long and mutual partnership, starting with seller finance on Excel sheets to millions of consumer loans delivered in seconds. In the process, we have learnt how to put the customer first, from the best in the business. Now, as we look to this next phase together, there is much to be excited about.

First, we are ready to make this business BIG. Lending is a business that works best at scale. It is also one that can scale, in India and universally. As a start-up, we flexed on tech and risk management, but distribution and capital are also crucial ingredients for the lending engine to truly hum.

Second, is the opportunity to realise the promise of Fintech + E-commerce coming seamlessly together. We have always believed that lending works best when woven into the fabric of everyday commerce. India’s GDP grows when sellers sell and consumers buy. Access to capital at both ends — simple, transparent, and affordable — is the fuel that makes this flywheel spin faster.

And finally, legacy. This seed that we have planted and watered now has the opportunity to grow into a large tree. Financial institutions become institutions because they intermediate so much of people’s lives, housing incredible complexity and regulatory responsibility underneath. What better home for ours than one of the most iconic companies of our time.

Over the past decade, we have often ended company emails with our favourite quote from Phil Knight (also imprinted on the grounds of the Stanford GSB campus):
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Even now, it feels as relevant as ever.

Onwards, upwards, and Jai Hind.

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