Rajan Bajaj built Slice from a youth-focused fintech into a licensed small finance bank.
From credit cards to banking, explore Rajan Bajaj’s remarkable journey of turning Slice into India’s unique fintech-to-bank success story.
Written by TFN Research Desk | covering startups, technology, venture capital, and business strategy.
Quick Facts
| Founder | Rajan Bajaj |
| Alma Mater | IIT Kharagpur, B.Tech (Hons) Civil Engineering |
| Prior Experience | Product Manager, Flipkart; Founder, Mesh Internet |
| Role | Founder, MD & CEO, Slice (now Slice Small Finance Bank) |
| Founded | 2015 |
| Headquarters | Bengaluru, Karnataka |
Table of Contents
- Introduction
- The Slice Story
- Business Model
- The Path to a Banking License
- Funding and Financial Turnaround
- Slice vs Competitors
- Key Takeaways
- FAQs
Introduction
Rajan Bajaj built Slice into one of India’s best-known fintech brands for young, digitally active consumers.
Then he did something few Indian startups ever attempt. He turned a fintech company into a licensed bank.
A decade after founding Slice, Bajaj now leads Slice Small Finance Bank (Wikipedia), which just posted its first full year of profitability.
The Slice Story
Bajaj graduated from IIT Kharagpur with an Honours degree in Civil Engineering. He then joined Flipkart’s product team. (The Org)
His first venture, Mesh Internet, taught him something important: young, tech-savvy Indians were badly underserved when it came to accessing credit. That insight led him to found SlicePay in 2015. (werisebyliftingothers)
The idea was sharp and simple. Give India’s students and young professionals a credit product built for their lifestyle, something traditional banks had largely ignored.
That focus paid off fast. Slice grew its user base into the millions. It reached unicorn status in November 2021, after raising $220 million from investors including Tiger Global and Insight Partners. (IIT Kharagpur Foundation)
Business Model
Slice built its early growth around credit cards and short-term credit lines for first-time credit users.
As India’s regulatory landscape around digital lending evolved, Slice used the moment to expand rather than simply defend its original model. The company moved deeper into full-stack lending and payments infrastructure. (Affluense)
The Path to a Banking License
| Milestone | Detail |
|---|---|
| Jan 2019 | Slice receives NBFC license from the RBI |
| 2023 | Slice and North East Small Finance Bank secure RBI approval to merge |
| Oct 2024 | Merger completes, forming Slice Small Finance Bank |
| Result | Slice becomes India’s first fintech to transition into a licensed bank |
(Wikipedia; Business Standard)
This merger is genuinely rare in Indian fintech. Rather than staying a pure-play NBFC, Slice secured a full banking license.
That gave it the ability to accept deposits and build a broader suite of banking products, savings accounts, fixed deposits, and lending, all under one regulated roof. (Affluense)
Funding and Financial Turnaround
Slice Small Finance Bank’s first full year post-merger required real rebuilding work. The results are now showing clearly.
| Metric | FY24 | FY25 | FY26 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Total Income | ₹251 crore | ₹604 crore | ₹1,403 crore |
| Net Profit/Loss | -₹153 crore | -₹217 crore | +₹48.4 crore |
(Entrackr; Economic Times via Inkl)
FY26 marked Slice’s first full year of profitability as a bank, with revenue more than doubling year-over-year. (Inshorts)
The balance sheet strengthened just as sharply. Net worth rose from ₹61 crore in March 2024 to ₹875 crore by March 2026. The debt-to-equity ratio improved from 0.97 to 0.14 over the same period, with capital adequacy at 19.1 percent, comfortably above regulatory minimums. (Economic Times via Inkl)
Bajaj says the bank is well capitalised. It’s now evaluating a $50-100 million funding round to build out a full digital banking suite, with an eye toward becoming a universal bank within five years. (Business Standard)
Slice vs Competitors
Slice now competes in a distinctive space, straddling both consumer fintech and licensed banking.
Among its closest fintech-era peers, OneCard and CRED, Slice stands out as the only one to have secured a full banking license. That gives it deposit-taking capabilities its rivals simply don’t have.
Key Takeaways
- Rajan Bajaj founded Slice in 2015 to bring modern credit products to India’s underserved young consumers.
- Slice reached unicorn status in 2021 after raising $220 million.
- In October 2024, Slice completed its merger with North East Small Finance Bank, becoming India’s first fintech-to-bank transformation.
- FY26 marked the bank’s first full year of profitability, with revenue more than doubling to ₹1,403 crore.
- Slice is now evaluating fresh capital to build out a complete digital banking suite.
FAQs
Who founded Slice?
Rajan Bajaj, an IIT Kharagpur graduate and former Flipkart product manager, founded Slice in 2015.
What makes Slice unique in Indian fintech?
It’s the first Indian fintech to transition into a licensed bank, via its 2024 merger with North East Small Finance Bank.
Is Slice profitable?
Yes. Slice Small Finance Bank posted its first full year of profit in FY26, with net profit of ₹48.4 crore.
Who are Slice’s competitors?
OneCard and CRED, in India’s youth-focused fintech and credit space.
© The Founder Nation | Written by TFN Research Desk
