Friday, March 29

One More Indian Lending Startup Raises $10 Million Funding

IndiaLends, a New-Delhi based digital lending and borrowing marketplace has raised $10 million (about Rs 69 crore) in a Series B funding round. The funding round was led by ACPI Investment Managers (London-based asset management firm) and Ganesh Ventures (India-focused venture capital firm).

The latest funding round also saw the participation of existing investors such as AmEx ventures, Deepak Shahdadpuri-led consumer-focused venture capital firm DSG Consumer Partners and AdvantEdge Partners.

This funding news has come around 18 months after the firm had secured $4 million in a funding round which was led by American Express Ventures, the corporate venture investment arm of American Express Company. As of now, the total amount that the company has raised in funding is around $16 million.

“RBI data on sectoral deployment of bank credit in FY18 reflects the tremendous growth potential of personal loans. We will shortly be launching new products such as an app-based line of credit and point-of-sale loans to meet the needs of our customers”, said Gaurav Chopra, founder of IndiaLends.

Founded in 2015 by Gaurav Chopra and Mayank Kachhwaha, IndiaLends is a fintech firm that connects consumers and small businesses looking for low rate loans with institutional lenders looking for good returns. It is available on both web and mobile and also provides value-add services. It competes with online marketplace Paisabazaar and also with the banks.

“Since DSGCP first invested in 2015, we have witnessed strong market traction as IndiaLends continues to use data, credit analytics and technology to build a robust platform that offers banks and NBFCs the ability to develop and market products to a broader set of consumers,” Deepak Shahdadpuri, managing director, DSG Consumer Partners, said. 

Alok Oberoi, founder of ACP Partners also expressed that price comparison platforms have witnessed success as a consumer-driven product offering with a number of strong players around the world. And, now India is also set to make an entry into the phase of rapid retail credit expansion and IndiaLends is perfectly positioned to capitalize on this growth.