Venture Catalysts Leads ₹4 Cr Investment in Smart Payment Ring Maker Seven

Venture Catalysts, India’s leading early-stage investor and integrated incubator, has led a ₹4 crore Pre-Series A funding round in Seven, the Mumbai-based fintech startup behind the 7 Ring—India’s first indigenous contactless smart payment ring. The round also saw participation from Vinners, a SEBI-registered Category 1 AIF, and Anchorage Capital Partners, backed by the Sheth family office, promoters of The Great Eastern Shipping Company.

This funding marks a significant milestone for India’s fast-growing wearable fintech market. The proceeds will fuel the production scale-up of Seven’s RuPay and MasterCard-certified ring, expand metro payment integration, and support the upcoming launch of 7 Ring Air, an affordable variant slated for Q2 FY26. The investment also strengthens Seven’s retail distribution ambitions across e-commerce platforms like Amazon and Flipkart.

Fashion Meets Fintech in a Frictionless Payment Future

The 7 Ring operates via NFC tap-and-pay and supports a prepaid wallet powered by UPI. Unlike smartwatches or smartphones, it requires no battery, PIN, or app, making it an ultra-light, durable, and user-friendly alternative for contactless payments. Built with IP68-certified zirconia ceramic, the ring is targeted at metro commuters, urban millennials, and small retailers.

“Seven’s vision to merge fashion with fintech aligns perfectly with India’s journey toward becoming a global leader in digital transactions,” said Dr. Apoorva Ranjan Sharma, Co-founder, Venture Catalysts. “The 7 Ring is a paradigm shift in how 1.4 billion Indians interact with currency. By eliminating charging needs and smartphone dependency, the device democratizes access to secure payments for nationwide merchants, metro commuters, and urban millennials alike.”

He added, “Our investment is a bet on India’s ability to pioneer frugal engineering solutions for the world.”

Disrupting the Digital Payment Experience at Scale

India processed 185.8 billion UPI transactions in FY25, and Seven aims to capture a meaningful slice of this market. The device supports dual monetization via POS and metro interchange fees (1.08% and 0.40% respectively), and is National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) compatible in beta phase.

Future updates will include credit card tokenization, positioning Seven at the heart of India’s digital payment transformation. With contactless penetration still nascent, the company sees a vast addressable market among 60 million UPI users and 15 million metro riders.

“Venture Catalysts’ mentorship will accelerate our roadmap to deploy 30 lakh rings by 2028,” said Vijay Khubchandani, Founder and CEO, Seven. “With the support of our investors, we aim to transform metro gates and kirana stores into frictionless payment zones. Beyond building a company, we at Seven are architecting India’s contactless payment infrastructure.”

Co-founders Mahek Savla and Karthik Menon bring deep expertise in embedded systems and fintech innovation, complementing the team’s hardware-first go-to-market strategy.

A Strong Vote of Confidence from India’s Leading Early-Stage Investor

Venture Catalysts, recently recognised as 2024’s Top Early-Stage Investor by The Kredible, has syndicated over $700 million across 300+ startups, including unicorns like BharatPe. Its latest investment in Seven reflects a growing focus on hardware-enabled fintech and India-first digital payments solutions.

As the Indian digital payments market is projected to reach ₹577 trillion by FY29, Seven’s differentiated product, backed by certified security, frugal design, and UPI integration, could help shape India’s next wave of fintech innovation—one ring at a time.