Blogs

Piyush Roy is Product Management & GTM expert with over half-a-decade of experience

DIY Mutual Fund Platform for Corporates: India’s First

India’s startup and SMB ecosystem has exploded over the past decade—but corporate treasury management has barely kept up. Even as businesses have become more agile and digital-first, managing idle treasury funds remains an archaic, offline and paper-based.

These players focus on enterprise clients, leaving small and mid-sized businesses underserved, despite their growing financial clout.

As a fractional Product Manager at Hyperbola, I led the charge in building this greenfield solution from scratch—India’s first DIY Corporate Treasury Management platform with 100% digital flow. 

Over six months, I coordinated between design and development, led user research, solved technical blockers, and ensured timely delivery.

Here’s a deep dive into how we built it—and why it matters.

The Opportunity: Substituting a legacy set-up with Tech-First approach

Even today, for treasury management, Corporates have to rely on MFDs or RIAs, often through manual paperwork, phone calls, and fragmented processes. 

Due to bigger ticket size, corporates get due attention from relation based channels to help manage their treasure, however a large sum of money is sitting idle in growing numbers of startups.

Problem Statement:

Despite having sizable idle funds, SMBs lacked a self-service platform to invest directly in mutual funds. The entire flow was designed for large enterprises, leaving smaller players to either stay idle, invest in FD/RD only or go through a high-touch, slow process.

Market Opportunity:

The timing couldn’t have been better. As of December 2024, India had over 1.51 lakh startups, and we estimated that at least 24% of them fell into our ideal user profile. These were:

  • Recently funded startups
  • SMBs with ₹10,00,000 or more in idle treasury
  • Companies with ₹5 crores in revenue or 7+ full-time employees

This presented a substantial Total Addressable Market (TAM). If we could capture even a 5% share within three years, it would signal product-market fit and long-term viability.

Success Metrics We Set:

To stay accountable, we defined measurable outcomes:

  • Market Share: 5% of TAM within 3 years
  • User Growth Rate: 8–15% annually
  • Churn Rate: <2% YoY
  • Startup Lifetime Value (LTV): ₹5 lakh invested per year, for 7 years

These targets guided every product decision we made.

Product Development: A digital DIY Corporate MF Investment Platform

With clear goals in mind, we built the platform from the ground up over a 6-month timeline—4 months for development, 2 for testing. 

The vision was ambitious: enable corporates to onboard themselves, verify KYC, and invest in mutual funds with zero manual intervention.

My Role:

As the fractional Product Manager, I was the bridge between vision and execution. My responsibilities included:

  • Conducting interviews with SMB founders to find the right Product-Market Fit (PMF)
  • Designing smooth onboarding journeys with the UX team
  • Answering developer queries, resolving blockers, and defining user stories
  • Aligning with compliance, legal, and finance stakeholders
  • Managing sprints and ensuring we met our delivery deadline

This was a greenfield build with no legacy tech. That gave us the freedom to reimagine the user journey from scratch—and integrate with every critical player in the mutual fund ecosystem.

Full-Stack Integrations: The Infrastructure Behind a Seamless Flow

To truly deliver on the promise of a DIY treasury platform, we had to stitch together multiple pieces of India’s financial infrastructure. This was no small feat.

Key Integrations:

  • KYC Registration Agencies (KRAs): To verify user identity and compliance
  • AMCs (Asset Management Companies): For fund discovery and transactions
  • RTAs (Registrar and Transfer Agents): For data reconciliation and investor records
  • Payment Gateways (PGs): For fast and secure fund transfers

Each integration required extensive backend coordination, testing, and compliance review. But these were essential to achieve our goal: a 100% digital investment flow for Resident Indians, NRIs, and corporates.

User Research & Personas: Understanding the Treasury Pain Points

We didn’t build in a vacuum. Early in the process, we conducted interviews with startup CFOs, founders, and finance heads of SMBs. These conversations revealed a few recurring pain points:

  • “We don’t have time to go through advisors for every investment decision.”
  • “We need a simple dashboard—something that just works.”
  • “Security and compliance are non-negotiable, especially for foreign investors.”

User Personas:

Based on our research, we zeroed in on:

  • Private Limited Companies and Public Limited Companies
  • Sole Proprietorships with idle capital
  • RI and NRI investors interested in diversified, digital-first wealth management

We designed flexible use cases—from direct mutual fund orders to goal-based investing via baskets, with reporting dashboards tailored for finance teams.

Built for Corporates, But Intuitive as B2C

While our backend was enterprise-grade, the front-end experience was inspired by the simplicity of leading B2C apps. We focused on clarity, speed, and control.

Core Features:

  1. KYC Status Check & Registration: Corporates and individuals can verify and complete their KYC directly through the platform. NRIs could complete all flows except KYC registration (due to regulation).
  2. Onboarding Flow: Designed for self-serve, with minimal documentation and guided assistance. No manual follow-ups.
  3. Orders & Payments: Corporates could invest in funds directly, or use curated goal-based baskets for targeted outcomes.
  4. Goal Tagging: Companies could assign investments to treasury goals like “Payroll Buffer” or “Expansion Reserve”—a unique feature not offered by traditional distributors.
  5. Reporting & Operations: Access to real-time dashboards, investor statements, and reconciliation tools for finance teams.

Out of Scope:

To maintain focus, we excluded:

LLPs, Trusts, Minors, and Partnerships (due for next phase)

This focus allowed us to launch faster and serve a more homogenous segment.

Conclusion

Hyperbola’s DIY treasury platform isn’t just another fintech product—it’s a statement. 

It signals that SMBs in India no longer need to rely on legacy systems or intermediaries to manage their capital. They deserve the same speed, control, and transparency as any large enterprise.

From a product standpoint, this project was a masterclass in:

  • Driving alignment across tech, design, and compliance
  • Balancing B2B robustness with B2C simplicity
  • Shipping a full-stack platform on time, with no major pivots

As a fractional Product Manager, it was incredibly rewarding to take a bold vision, validate it with users, and turn it into a live product with real traction. This case study is not just about building a platform—it’s about building trust, infrastructure, and financial independence for India’s next wave of business leaders.