Tackling India’s retirement crisis through digital innovation

When Kuldeep and his brother Shivam started exploring retirement planning in India, they uncovered a crisis hiding in plain sight. Traditional Indian families used to rely on children caring for elderly parents, but the shift to nuclear families has left many seniors financially vulnerable. As social structures changed, people stopped supporting their parents as much as previous generations did. Government surveys show increasing elderly poverty – people who had money when young but lack sufficient funds in old age.

Even India’s National Pension System (NPS) – designed as an affordable, flexible retirement solution – suffered from poor adoption due to complicated processes and lack of awareness.

That’s where PensionBox was formed. Check out Hansi’s interview with the founders: 

The Digital Solution

Pension Box attacks these problems through technology and simplification. As a licensed Point of Presence (POP) in the NPS ecosystem, they’ve built a fully digital platform that transforms the retirement planning experience.

Shivam’s technical approach focuses on eliminating friction at every step. By integrating with government APIs and building custom user journeys, they’ve reduced what used to be a 100+ field form into a streamlined experience. The team modifies government-provided APIs and auto-fills everything using data from DigiLocker, eliminating the need for users to manually enter dozens of fields during account setup.

For Individuals:

• 2-minute account opening vs. 20 minutes on government sites
• Auto-filled forms using government databases through DigiLocker integration
• Simplified investment choices with transparent fund manager comparisons
• Complete journey digitization – from account opening to withdrawals

For Companies:

• 24-hour corporate NPS setup vs. weeks of manual processes
• Digital employee onboarding with automated payroll integration
• 50% cost reduction compared to traditional providers
• Full compliance management removing HR administrative burden

Early Traction and Growth

Starting with just LinkedIn content and word-of-mouth, Pension Box grew from 2,500 users in year one to 170,000 users. A viral video about PF tracking brought 10,000 signups in a single day. They’ve since pivoted to focus on B2B, onboarding 35 active corporate clients with 50+ more committed. Current monthly recurring revenue stands at ₹2.5 lakhs, with plans to scale to 2,500+ companies within three years.

The founders believe someone has to build the pension industry and modernize retirement planning in India. Rainmatter believes in making finance easier on all age groups which is why we have invested in PensionBox’s vision of ensuring today’s working population can retire with dignity and financial independence.