Bridging the Financial Gap for NRIs: How Sai Shankar Helped Build Belong

For millions of Indians living abroad, building a financial future in India remains an important goal. They may want to earn returns on their savings, invest in Indian markets, support family members, or maintain financial connections with their home country.

Yet, managing money across borders can be surprisingly complicated.

Opening investment accounts, completing identity verification, navigating tax rules, converting currencies, and transferring funds internationally can require considerable time and paperwork. Financial products designed for people living in India do not always translate easily to the needs of those residing overseas.

For M. Sai Shankar, a banking professional with experience at established financial institutions, these challenges represented an opportunity to rethink how financial services could work for the global Indian community.

In 2024, he joined Ankur Choudhary, Ayush Singh, and Savitri Bobde to co-found Belong, a fintech startup designed specifically around the financial needs of Non-Resident Indians (NRIs).

Rather than treating overseas Indians as an extension of the domestic banking market, the company set out to build financial products around their distinct circumstances.

From Traditional Banking to Fintech Innovation

Sai Shankar brought extensive banking experience to his entrepreneurial journey. Before co-founding Belong, he had worked with financial institutions including ICICI Bank, HDFC, and Neo Global.

These experiences gave him exposure to banking operations, customer needs, and the practical challenges involved in delivering financial products.

Traditional banking serves a broad range of customers, but the requirements of overseas Indians can be considerably different from those of domestic residents. Currency exposure, cross-border transfers, residency classifications, and international compliance requirements all influence the products that NRIs can access.

For financial institutions, serving this customer segment requires more than simply making an existing product available online. It requires understanding how customers earn, save, invest, and transfer money across different countries.

Shankar's professional background helped him understand the relationship between financial products and the systems needed to deliver them.

His move into entrepreneurship represented a shift from working within established financial organisations to helping develop a new platform intended to address a specific gap in the market.

The NRI Financial Challenge

The idea behind Belong was rooted in a problem that had existed for years.

Indians living abroad often want to invest their savings in India, but the process can involve several separate institutions and administrative steps.

A prospective investor may need to establish the appropriate bank account, submit documentation, complete know-your-customer verification, understand the tax treatment of investments, and determine how funds can eventually be transferred back overseas.

Currency movements introduce another consideration. An investment may generate interest in Indian rupees, but its value to someone whose expenses are denominated in US dollars, dirhams, pounds, or another currency can change as exchange rates fluctuate.

These challenges can discourage people from exploring financial opportunities that might otherwise suit their circumstances.

The problem was not simply that NRIs lacked access to financial information. It was that the processes surrounding financial products were often fragmented.

Belong's founders recognised that a dedicated platform could make the experience easier to navigate by bringing relevant products, digital onboarding, and financial tools into one place.

Building Belong With a Shared Vision

Belong was founded in 2024 by four entrepreneurs: Ankur Choudhary, Ayush Singh, Savitri Bobde, and Sai Shankar.

The founding team brought complementary experience in financial services, technology, and digital products.

Choudhary, Bobde, and members of the broader founding team had previously worked on Goalwise, an online investment advisory platform that was acquired by Niyo in 2020. Their experience building financial technology products gave them valuable insight into the difficulties of helping customers access investment services.

One challenge stood out: even when NRIs wanted to invest, onboarding and compliance requirements could prevent them from doing so conveniently.

Belong emerged from the desire to address these barriers more directly.

The company was designed around a specific principle: financial services for Indians living overseas should reflect their actual needs rather than force them to navigate systems built primarily for domestic customers.

Shankar joined this effort as a co-founder and Chief Business Officer, contributing his banking experience to the company's development and commercial strategy.

The venture was therefore not the work of one individual alone. It was a collaborative effort to combine financial expertise, technology, and an understanding of the global Indian market.

Why Belong Started With US Dollar Fixed Deposits

Belong initially focused on a product that addressed a clear concern for overseas savers: the relationship between interest earned in India and fluctuations in the rupee.

In July 2025, the company introduced a US dollar fixed-deposit offering through partnerships with banks operating in GIFT City, Gujarat's International Financial Services Centre.

The initial service targeted Indian expatriates in the United Arab Emirates.

The idea was to provide eligible customers with access to dollar-denominated deposits, rather than requiring them to place all their savings in rupee-denominated deposits.

Consider an Indian expatriate who earns and spends money in US dollars. A fixed deposit earning interest in Indian rupees may provide a nominal return, but depreciation of the rupee against the dollar can reduce the value of those returns when converted back into dollars.

A dollar-denominated deposit changes that currency exposure because the principal and interest are denominated in dollars, subject to the product's terms.

This does not eliminate every financial risk. Deposit terms, applicable fees, institution-specific protections, and the customer's wider financial circumstances still matter. However, it gives eligible savers another option to consider.

For Belong, the product represented a starting point for developing financial services that responded more directly to the realities of life abroad.

GIFT City: Creating a New Route to Financial Access

A significant part of Belong's approach involves GIFT City, India's international financial services centre in Gujarat.

GIFT City provides a regulatory and financial-services framework through which eligible institutions can offer products designed for international customers.

For a fintech company serving NRIs, this creates opportunities to develop financial products that are better aligned with customers who earn and save in foreign currencies.

Belong's initial offering demonstrated how this approach could be applied to fixed deposits. The company subsequently outlined plans to expand into additional investment categories and financial services.

These included investment funds, access to selected Indian and international market products, insurance, financial cards, and tax-filing support.

The wider ambition was to create a more integrated financial platform rather than operate as a single-product deposit provider.

Building such a platform requires more than product development. It also requires appropriate regulatory permissions, banking and investment partnerships, secure onboarding processes, and clear communication about the risks and conditions associated with each service.

For Shankar and his co-founders, these considerations formed an important part of developing a financial business for customers spread across different countries.

The $5 Million Milestone

In July 2025, Belong announced a $5 million seed funding round led by Elevation Capital, with participation from Relentless Ventures and several angel investors.

The funding marked an important milestone for the young company.

It provided capital to support product development, regulatory capabilities, hiring, and expansion into additional markets.

The investor group included entrepreneurs and executives associated with companies such as Urban Company, Zomato, Mamaearth, and PayU.

The investment also reflected interest in a customer segment that traditional financial platforms have not always served with specialised digital products.

For a startup operating in financial services, funding is only one part of the journey. The next challenge is turning that capital into a reliable product, building customer trust, establishing effective partnerships, and developing a sustainable business model.

Belong's early funding gave the company resources to pursue these objectives while broadening its offering for global Indians.

Beyond Fixed Deposits: Building a Financial Platform for Global Indians

Belong's longer-term proposition extends beyond helping NRIs save in foreign currency.

Its platform has developed around the broader challenge of managing money across borders, bringing together investment products and practical financial tools.

These services have included:

• Dollar-denominated fixed deposits: Options for eligible customers to save in US dollars through participating institutions.

• Investment products: Access to selected funds and other investment opportunities offered through the platform.

• Financial comparison tools: Resources to compare deposit options and understand relevant financial choices.

• Tax and compliance assistance: Tools and services designed to help NRIs understand their Indian tax and residency obligations.

• Market information: Resources to follow financial markets and developments relevant to overseas Indians.

The company's product range and eligibility conditions can change, and individual products may be available only to customers meeting specific requirements.

The broader strategy, however, is clear: create a financial destination designed around the needs of Indians whose lives and finances span multiple countries.

Instead of approaching savings, investments, and compliance as unrelated tasks, Belong aims to make these connected responsibilities easier to manage.

What Sai Shankar's Journey Teaches Entrepreneurs

Shankar's transition from banking to fintech entrepreneurship offers several lessons for people building businesses in established industries.

Industry experience can reveal overlooked opportunities

Working within financial services can help professionals understand the everyday frustrations customers experience. That knowledge can become valuable when developing a new product or service.

Shankar's banking background gave him a foundation for understanding the financial needs and operational requirements of overseas customers.

A focused customer segment can create a strong starting point

Belong did not begin by attempting to serve every possible banking customer. It focused on NRIs, a group with distinct requirements that are not always addressed by mainstream financial products.

A clearly defined audience can help a startup identify a more specific problem and design a more relevant solution.

Technology must work alongside regulation

Financial services cannot be transformed through software alone. Companies must account for customer verification, regulatory requirements, financial partnerships, and the responsibilities associated with handling money.

The opportunity lies in making necessary processes easier to complete while maintaining appropriate safeguards.

Partnerships can accelerate product development

Belong's initial dollar fixed-deposit product depended on working with banks operating in GIFT City. Such partnerships can help fintech companies offer services without independently building every part of the underlying financial infrastructure.

For founders, choosing the right partners can be as important as developing the customer-facing technology.

Building a company is a team effort

Shankar's story also highlights the importance of complementary experience. A banking professional, technology specialist, and business leader may approach the same problem differently.

When these perspectives work together, they can help a startup build a more complete product and business strategy.

The Road Ahead for Belong

The market for NRI-focused financial services presents a significant opportunity, but it also comes with considerable challenges.

Customers living overseas may have different tax obligations, residency statuses, investment restrictions, and financial goals. A product suitable for an Indian expatriate in the UAE may not necessarily be available or appropriate for someone living in the United States or the United Kingdom.

Expansion therefore requires careful attention to local regulations, cross-border requirements, customer education, and product suitability.

Belong's ambition to broaden its services and geographic reach reflects the scale of the problem it is trying to address. Its future development will depend on its ability to deliver useful products while maintaining trust and meeting the relevant regulatory requirements.

For Shankar, the opportunity lies in applying years of financial-services experience to a customer group whose needs are distinct and often complicated.

The goal is not simply to put financial products on a screen. It is to make the process of managing money across borders more understandable and accessible.

Conclusion: Making Financial Services Work for a Global Indian Community

M. Sai Shankar's journey from banking to fintech entrepreneurship illustrates how professional experience can contribute to solving a wider customer problem.

Through Belong, he joined a founding team seeking to improve the way Indians living overseas access savings and investment products connected to India.

The company's launch, its initial focus on dollar fixed deposits through GIFT City, and its $5 million seed funding round marked early steps in that effort.

Its broader ambition is to create a more integrated financial experience for people whose earnings, savings, and long-term plans cross national boundaries.

The journey also demonstrates that financial innovation often involves addressing problems that have existed for years but remain difficult to solve because they sit between institutions, currencies, and regulatory systems.

By combining banking knowledge with technology and a clearly defined customer focus, Shankar and the Belong team are working to make those complexities easier to navigate.

For aspiring entrepreneurs, the story offers a useful reminder: meaningful innovation does not always begin with inventing an entirely new financial product. Sometimes, it begins by understanding why an existing system does not work well for a particular group of people—and then building a better way forward.

Frequently Asked Questions

Who is M. Sai Shankar?

M. Sai Shankar is a banking professional and co-founder of Belong, a fintech startup focused on financial products and services for Non-Resident Indians. He serves as the company's Chief Business Officer and has previously worked with ICICI Bank, HDFC, and Neo Global.

What is Belong?

Belong is a fintech platform designed to help NRIs access savings, investments, and related financial services through a digital experience tailored to their needs.

When was Belong founded?

Belong was founded in 2024 by Ankur Choudhary, Ayush Singh, Savitri Bobde, and Sai Shankar.

How much funding did Belong raise?

In July 2025, Belong announced a $5 million seed funding round led by Elevation Capital, with participation from Relentless Ventures and angel investors.

Why is GIFT City important to Belong?

GIFT City provides an international financial-services framework through which eligible institutions can offer products to overseas customers. Belong uses this ecosystem to develop financial products suited to the needs of global Indians.

What is Belong trying to achieve?

Belong aims to make saving, investing, and managing financial responsibilities across borders simpler for Indians living overseas by bringing relevant products and tools together on one platform.