Finova Capital Pvt. Ltd, a non-banking financial company based in Jaipur has obtained a $6 million (Rs 6.5 crore) investment by existing investor Sequoia Capital.
“They have scaled fast while maintaining high portfolio quality and delivered profits. This has encouraged Sequoia to double down on its investment in Finova and support its next leg of growth,” stated GV Ravi Shankar, Managing Director, Sequoia India Capital Advisors.
Finova Capital already obtained a prior investment in a Series A round from Sequoia Capital in September 2017. The amount of the investment was however unrevealed.
Mohit Sahney, CEO of Finova Capital explained that the company is trying to invest in technology and expansion, hence the funds will be use for this purpose and to increase their operations.
“We are investing significantly in technology as we believe it is an enabler to the traditional brick and mortar model, and the most efficient way to deliver credit to our target segment,” said Mohit Sahney, CEO, Finova Capital.
Husband and wife Mohit and Sunita Sahney founded the company. They lend money of about Rs 8-9 lakh for up to seven years and charge an annual interest of 21-25% in return. Up to now, Finova Capital has provided loans of up to Rs 90 crore to more than 1,100 customers. They claim to be lucrative since their first year active. They have structured personalized models for borrowers having small businesses and service providers small towns and rural areas.
“There is dearth of organized credit available to a large proportion of MSME businesses largely due to lack of formal income, documentation and financial literacy. We have formulated a way to efficiently serve this under banked population and are working towards facilitating their access to credit,” said Mohit Sahney.
India’s financial sector grew a lot in the recent years as several new individuals and companies joining the payments, loaning, insurance and personal finance market. India’s finance-technology market swiped approximately $1.84 billion in total funding with internet-based lending platforms involved in most investment deals. Many experts believe that online lending platforms will attract many investors in 2018.
Earlier in January, Social Worth Technologies Pvt. Ltd, parent company of online lending mobile app raised Rs 100 Crore ($15.7 million) in a funding round led by Eight Roads Ventures India.