Bidd (Part of Incred Money): SEBI Registered OBPP Platform

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Bidd, a relatively new player in the Indian OBPP market, is backed by Incred Money and registered with BSE and NSE.
The platform offers investment options like corporate bonds, market-linked debentures (MLDs), and NCD IPOs, focusing on distributing bonds and earning a spread.
Bidd has achieved significant growth, reaching an AUM of over Rs 1250 crores in less than two years, with a strong risk assessment and zero defaults.
Despite its achievements, the platform has a limited range of bond offerings and offers lower returns on corporate bonds compared to some competitors.
Bidd's strong financial backing and SEBI regulation make it a promising option for investors, though there is room for improvement in expanding offerings and returns.

Ever since India’s market regulator SEBI introduced the OBPP regulations in 2022, the debt market in India has witnessed the emergence of several bond platforms that have gone on to become regulated under SEBI. SEBI-regulated OBPP (Online Bond platform provider) players in India include some prominent names such as Grip Invest, Wint Wealth, IndiaBonds, Aspero and GoldenPi.

But today, in this blog of ours, we will talk about a relatively new bond platform which has entered the OBPP space in 2024-Bidd. As a part of Incred Money, Bidd plays the role of an OBPP registered with BSE and NSE.

Lets dig deeper into Bidd’s corporate structure, business mode, features, etc in this blog.

Corporate Structure & Founders

Bidd had initially started as Incred Money in 2023, and later got rebranded in July 2024 as Bidd due to OBPP guidelines, since Incred Money started selling unlisted shares.

If you check out Incred Money’s website, it asks you explore and invest through Bidd.

Bidd is an Online Bond platform provider (OBPP) registered with BSE and NSE.

Also, as mentioned on Incred’s website, Alpha Fintech operates under the brand ‘Incred Money’, and is the tech partner of Oro Financial, under the brand name Bidd.

Vijay Kuppa is the CEO of Bidd.

Vijay is currently not only the Director of Bidd, but also of Oro Financial and Alpha Fintech.

Bidd’s Business Model

Just like most SEBI-registered OBPPs in India, the business model of Bidd revolves around being a distributor of bonds and earning a spread i.e. they buy at a lower price and sell at a higher price.

Bidd currently offers the following investment options available on its platform:

Corporate Bonds-Corporate bonds allow companies to borrow money from investors, and in exchange, the investors receive interest payments and get their original investment (the principal) back after a certain period.
MLDs-Market Linked Debentures are a type of debenture whose returns are not fixed, and are instead linked to a market index. Investors receive returns only upon maturity, based on the underlying index’s performance.
NCD IPO-Non-convertible debentures IPOs are initial public offerings by the issuing company on the stock market.

Things We Like About Bidd

The platform is SEBI regulated, and is also registered as an Online Bond Platform Provider (OBPP) with BSE and NSE.

Very few OBPP platforms are currently offering MLDs (Market Linked Debentures), and Bidd is among them.
In less than 2 years since its inception in May 2023, Bidd has already managed to reach an AUM (assets under management) of more than Rs 1250 crores, which is quite impressive.
Having zero defaults till date (and 100% repayments) is a good sign, which shows that the platform’s risk assessment and due diligence process has so far been strong.
Being a part of a big financial player in the form of Incred Money gives a strong backing to Bidd. Moreover, its founder Vijay Kuppa has an experience of working in prestigious financial organizations such as Larsen & Toubro and Goldman Sachs.

Things We Don't Like About Bidd

The platform has a very limited range of bonds available as live deals, which gives retail investors a lesser scope to choose from what could otherwise have been a diverse list of bond deals on Bidd. For instance, when we checked their platform, they only had 3 new bond deals to offer.

A lot of investors right now confuse Incred Money (now Bidd) also to be a regulated platform, the branding although have been distinctive still confuses a lot of people given Incred Money Platform still has links to Bidd on its homepage.

Conclusion

In conclusion, its fair to say that Bidd has quickly established itself as a notable player in the Indian OBPP market, backed by the strong financial foundation of Incred Money. With its SEBI registration and innovative offerings like NCD IPOs, MLDs. However, the platform has scope to expand its range of bond offerings and potentially increase the returns on its corporate bond deals to remain competitive.

Overall, Bidd's strong risk assessment and zero default record make it a promising option for investors seeking a reliable bond investment platform.

Please note that this is an opinion blog and not an official research or investment advice**. This blog aims to help retail investors make an informed decision in the debt market, and neither encourages nor discourages you from investing in any particular bond or any other asset class.\

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