Kreditbee Funding: KreditBee Secures Additional $ 70 Million Under Series C Funding Round
The transaction follows that of February when Finnov
raised $ 75 million of PremjiInvest from Azim Premji, Mirae Asset Ventures, Alpine Capital and Arkam Ventures.
With the conclusion of the second tranche, KreditBee’s total funding for the round has increased to $ 145 million, making it one of the largest funding rounds for an Indian lending startup since the start of the Covid pandemic. -19.
According to a source, the mix of primary and secondary transactions saw all Chinese start-up investors, such as smartphone maker Xiaomi Corp., Shunwei Capital and Kunlun, make a full exit. These investors together held around 40% of the startup’s capital before the round.
ET was unable to determine the valuation of the company to which the equity was raised.
The new capital will be used to increase its loan portfolio beyond unsecured personal loans. The lender is considering forays into secured loans and other ancillary services such as insurance and personal and small business card loans.
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“A complex demographics like India require simple, effective and impactful credit solutions; this is accompanied by a better understanding of the financing needs of consumers in the ecosystem, ”said Madhusudan E, CEO of Finnov, in a statement.
Finnov, registered in March 2016, also owns Krazybee, a non-bank finance company (NBFC). The group launched KreditBee in May 2018, focused on full digital loans for young professionals.
The platform specializes in personal loans and durable consumer loans up to Rs 2 lakh with terms ranging from two months to 15 months. It competes with startups such as MoneyTap, EarlySalary and Navi from Sachin Bansal, co-founder of Flipkart.
In its previous rounds, the company raised $ 8 million from Shunwei and Xiaomi in 2017. It also raised $ 43 million in equity from ICICI Bank and Arkam Ventures in its Series B round. .
“The demands of the middle-class, middle-class Indian looking for value can only be met by a multitude of loan products. One size does not fit all. We are delighted to become a Finnov shareholder at this point… ”said Amit Gupta, founding partner of NewQuest Capital Partners.
According to Vishal Tulsyan, CEO of Motilal Oswal Private Equity, the decision to invest in the startup was based on the good economics of its unit and its scalable model. “With the continued focus and momentum, we see the platform evolve into a consumer fintech lending solution in the Asian market. ”
The company currently has more than 1,200 employees and a user base of more than 20 million, he said. The platform plans to diversify its product offering by venturing into secured loans and digital insurance. It now plans to expand its base, targeting the more than 180 million new Indian credit customers, according to Madhusudan.
The move comes at a time when the border standoff between India and China and the alleged malfeasance of several short-term loan applications in this segment have led to a crackdown by Indian regulators of supported money-lending applications. by Chinese investors.
Google recently
picked up over 150 loan applications from its Play Store under the leadership of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and the Reserve Bank of India.