In an era where artificial intelligence is reshaping nearly every industry, even some of the biggest names in cricket are turning into tech investors. KL Rahul and Ben Stokes, through The Players Fund, have joined a group of investors backing Fundamento, an Indian startup that is reimagining how banks and lenders communicate with borrowers using AI.
In a pre-Series A round, the company managed to raise close to $1.9 million (approximately ₹16 crore) with IIFL Fintech Fund leading the round and Venture Catalysts, Lead Invest, Epic Angels, and other investors participating. The funding is a major indicator of how AI-powered innovation is getting the attention not only of big finance players but also of international sports stars who recognize the tech trend as their next big opportunity.
A New Era of “Agentic AI” in Financial Services
Fundamento, Founded in 2020 by Ankit Durga, Megha Aggarwal, and Co Founder Vickram Saigal, is building what it refers to as agentic AI, which are systems that can operate independently within organized financial workflows. AI agents, in fact, need not only to answer customer queries but can also start conversations, decide intelligently, and handle borrower interactions without any human intervention.
The platform serves as a strategic engagement layer for financial institutions, automating tasks such as loan collections, borrower profiling, customer retention, and upselling. What makes Fundamento stand out is its ability to support multilingual communication, allowing banks and lenders to seamlessly engage borrowers across India’s diverse language base, a critical advantage in a market as complex as India’s.
This kind of technology is transforming how the financial ecosystem operates. By combining deep AI engineering with financial expertise, Fundamento’s tools help institutions reduce operational costs, improve efficiency, and deliver personalized borrower experiences at scale.
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Why Athletes Are Betting on AI
The participation of global cricket stars like KL Rahul and Ben Stokes may seem unusual at first, but it reflects a broader shift, athletes increasingly want to invest in tech-driven ventures with long-term growth potential. Through The Players Fund, these sports icons are backing startups that align with emerging global trends such as artificial intelligence, automation, and fintech transformation.
In Fundamento’s case, the appeal is clear. Financial institutions worldwide are under pressure to modernize, and AI-powered platforms like this one promise to revolutionize the way lending, collections, and customer engagement are managed. For investors, that means entering a sector poised for sustained growth over the next decade.
The fund’s participation also adds a layer of credibility and visibility for the startup. Having high-profile investors helps attract attention from enterprise customers and potential partners who might otherwise hesitate to engage with early-stage ventures.
The Strategic Focus Behind the Funding
The $1.9 million raised will primarily go toward enhancing Fundamento’s AI capabilities and deepening its product verticalization for financial services. The company aims to build more sophisticated multi-agent systems capable of managing full borrower lifecycles autonomously.
In the coming year, Fundamento plans to expand its operations across India’s BFSI (Banking, Financial Services, and Insurance) sector while simultaneously entering global markets such as the United States and Asia-Pacific (APAC). These regions are witnessing a surge in digital lending, AI-led debt recovery, and financial services automation, making them ideal targets for the company’s technology.
A Strong Signal from IIFL Fintech Fund
The financing round was led by the IIFL Fintech Fund, which has a history of facilitating financial innovation in India. Some of the successful startups in its portfolio are Leegality, FinBox, Trendlyne, Castler, and Finarkein Analytics. The fund, by supporting Fundamento, is a clear indication of its increasing trust in AI as a major factor for the transformation of regulated industries such as banking.
This is also one of IIFL’s first substantial investments in a pure-play AI startup focused on financial automation, a move that reflects the sector’s ongoing evolution. The partnership is expected to bring Fundamento not only capital but also deep strategic guidance, regulatory insight, and access to enterprise networks.
Preparing for Global Expansion
Fundamento’s subsequent challenge is to grow its AI platform without losing the precision, openness, and security of the data that are attributes of financial operations. The firm’s move into international markets will inevitably require conforming to different regulatory structures and local financial systems, which is a hard test for any AI-driven enterprise.
Still, the potential is huge. When banks and other financial institutions across the globe are trying to find means to automate intricate workflows and tailor customer experiences, the way Fundamento does this might be the standard of how AI is implemented in conventional finance.
The involvement of top athletes turned investors further amplifies the story, showing that innovation is now attracting capital from unconventional sources that recognize the economic power of AI.
As KL Rahul and Ben Stokes diversify their portfolios beyond sports, their investment in Fundamento is a symbol of a larger trend: the world’s best performers, on the field and in business, are betting that the next big game-changer lies in intelligent, autonomous technology.
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