Harpreet Singh and Abhinav Awal met during their CA Foundation days after Class 12 in Bareilly. Harpreet became one of the youngest Regional Sales Managers at Bajaj Finserv. Together they co-founded F2 Fintech in 2022, connecting borrowers with 40-plus banks and NBFCs, crossed ₹5 crore-plus in profits entirely bootstrapped, and appeared on Shark Tank India Season 5 Episode 43.
CA Foundation Days, Poori Aloo, and a Problem That Would Not Go Away
• Harpreet Singh and Abhinav Awal first met during their CA Foundation days after Class 12. Like most young students, they had dreams, uncertainty, and endless conversations about life, business, and the future, often over simple poori aloo after classes. At that time, neither of them knew they would one day build a fintech company together.
• Their journeys eventually took different directions. Harpreet entered the world of finance and banking, building strong expertise in lending, credit, and customer relationships. Through years of hard work and performance, he went on to become one of the youngest Regional Sales Managers at Bajaj Finserv, one of India's largest financial services companies. Abhinav naturally leaned toward entrepreneurship and business operations, developing a deep understanding of growth, people, and execution from the ground level.
• When both stepped deeper into the financial services industry, they noticed the same problem everywhere. People genuinely needed loans and financial support, but the process felt broken. Borrowers were confused. Financial awareness was low. Hidden commissions were common. And most people simply chose whichever lender reached them first, not the one that was actually right for them.
• That frustration slowly became a vision. They wanted to build a system where finance felt simpler, more transparent, and easier to trust.
• Their first breakthrough generated approximately ₹70,000 in revenue. For many companies, that number may seem small. For them, it was proof that they were solving a real problem.
• Then came COVID. While businesses around them slowed down, Harpreet and Abhinav saw something changing rapidly: the future of finance was becoming digital. Instead of waiting for the perfect time, they doubled down on technology, systems, and building a long-term vision. That vision became F2 Fintech in 2022.
Transparent Lending, 40-Plus Banks, and a Market Built on Trust
• The founding insight behind F2 Fintech was not just identifying a credit gap. It was identifying a trust gap.
• F2 Fintech was incorporated on July 25, 2022, in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. Today it operates as an AI-powered digital lending marketplace connecting borrowers with 40-plus banks and NBFCs across India. The platform helps doctors, business owners, salaried professionals, Chartered Accountants, and home buyers access the right financial solutions without confusion or unnecessary complexity.
• From clinic expansion loans and working capital to home loans and business financing, F2 Fintech focuses on making borrowing faster, smarter, and more transparent. The marketplace model means F2 Fintech earns from matching the right borrower to the right lender without carrying credit risk on its own balance sheet, a capital-efficient structure that enabled the business to scale revenue without requiring large external funding rounds.
• The founders built the entire business bootstrapped, with zero outside investment from founding through to their Shark Tank appearance, a discipline that forced genuine product-market fit at every stage of growth.
Praised by Name, Passed Without a Deal
• F2 Fintech appeared on Shark Tank India Season 5 Episode 43 alongside LUZO and CORO. Harpreet Singh and Abhinav Awal entered the tank seeking ₹1 crore for 3% equity at a ₹33 crore valuation. Their pitch was precise, confident, and commercially sharp.
• The Sharks responded with genuine respect for the founders' energy. Viraj Bahl praised Harpreet's selling ability, while Namita Thapar called him a "fabulous salesman." Kunal Bahl challenged the differentiation in a commission-led model, while other Sharks expressed concerns around scalability and reliance on telecalling. Despite appreciation for the founders' hustle, no Shark invested, calling the business difficult to fund at a venture scale.
• The feedback was sharp and fair. The founders received it as exactly what it was: the most valuable strategic input available, delivered by India's most commercially experienced startup investors on a national platform.
• Post-Shark Tank, F2 Fintech has continued building. The team has expanded with new hires including a Credit Manager, Area Sales Manager, Full-Stack Developer, and Sales Manager. Both founders participated as featured speakers at a curated founder meetup on April 5, 2026 in Noida, sharing their Shark Tank journey with the next generation of startup founders.
Scale and Real-World Impact
• The company crossed ₹5 crore-plus in profits completely bootstrapped, with no external funding, no overnight success story, and no shortcuts. F2 Fintech Private Limited generated revenue of ₹3.74 crore for the financial year ending March 31, 2025, reflecting a one-year revenue CAGR of 7% and an EBITDA CAGR of 13%. The company was incorporated July 25, 2022, and is headquartered in Bareilly, Uttar Pradesh. It operates among 229 active competitors in the digital lending space, of which 30 are funded, making their bootstrapped profitability all the more significant. India's digital lending market stood at ₹12 lakh crore in 2023 and is projected to cross ₹47 lakh crore by 2026 at a 22% CAGR.
The Strongest Businesses Are Built Quietly, Patiently, and the Hard Way
• The sharpest lesson from F2 Fintech's journey is this: the founders who build genuine profitability before seeking external capital walk into every room from a position of strength rather than need.
• Harpreet and Abhinav crossed ₹5 crore-plus in profits before they appeared on national television. That discipline gave them something most early-stage fintech founders simply do not have: proof. The product worked. The market existed. The model was profitable.
• "Their real achievement was never just television visibility. It was building a profitable company from scratch in one of the most competitive industries, while staying independent and staying true to their vision," the founders' own account confirms.
• From Bareilly to a fast-growing fintech company. Built on trust. Built with resilience. Built for people.
• The Sharks said no to the valuation. The market keeps saying yes to the product. And two friends who started over poori aloo and a shared frustration with India's lending gap have proved that sometimes the strongest businesses are built where nobody is watching.
Sources: LinkedIn, Tracxn, Inshorts, TheCompanyCheck, Snapdeal Blog, WOWNEWS24X7
