Annapurna Finance Raises $15 Mn from Proparco, Bringing the Total Round Size to $100 Mn

Annapurna Finance (“Annapurna”), among the top five NBFC-MFIs in the country, has raised funds worth $15 million from Proparco in Series A2. With the fresh funds, the total round size amounts to USD 100 million. This is the fourth capital raise by Annapurna in the last 15 months, after attracting a USD 30 million investment from Nuveen Global Impact Fund in March 2021, USD 20 million from DEG in November 2021 and USD 35 million from Encourage Capital, Accion and existing investor Oikocredit.

Annapurna will use the funds to grow its loan book, invest in technology, expand geographically and further its vision of enabling financial inclusion at scale. With a pan India rural distribution network and a multi-product strategy, it offers micro-credit loans, home improvement, and MSME loans to individuals and small businesses. Then fundraise will help Annapurna in strengthening its tech stack to bring in more efficient, automated and paperless financial products to the unbanked and underbanked.

Annapurna, founded in 2009 by Mr. Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik and Mr. Dibyajyoti Pattanaik, has crossed the INR 6,500 crore AUM milestone. It has a presence across 20 states across the country with over 980 branches and is continuously expanding while utilizing and building on its internal domain knowledge and its processes perfected since its inception.

Talking about the fundraise, Mr.Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik, Managing Director, Annapurna Finance, said, “We are thrilled to have our existing debt partner Proparco further support us and now partner with us on the equity side. Their belief in our ability to enable financial inclusion across the country and empower women has fortified our commitment to building one of India’s largest financial services companies. We continue to invest heavily in our tech capabilities and operations to further boost the financial inclusion objectives of Annapurna over the next decade and strive to take it towards our larger banking ambitions."

“It gives us immense pleasure to back the founders, who have meticulously, thoughtfully and consistently built Annapurna, with a strong yet nimble business model that has focused on making financial services and products available to financially excluded people especially women in rural areas of India.  We are looking forward to Annapurna’s exciting journey and believe in their ability to grow profitably while also creating a significant impact. ”, said Ms. Diane Jegam, Regional Director – South Asia, Proparco. 

About Proparco:

Proparco is the private sector financing arm of the French public entity AgenceFrançaise de Développement Group (AFD Group). It has been promoting sustainable economic, social and environmental development for over 40 years. Proparco provides funding and support to both businesses and financial institutions in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Its action focuses on the key development sectors: infrastructure, mainly for renewable energies, agribusiness, financial institutions, health and education. Its operations aim to strengthen the contribution of private players to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) adopted by the international community in 2015. To this end, Proparco finances companies whose activity contributes to creating jobs and decent incomes, providing essential goods and services and combating climate change. They contribute to building sustainable economic growth and reducing poverty. For more information www.proparco.fr/en.

Bangalore-based Unitus Capital acted as an exclusive financial transaction advisor to Annapurna.

India Funding : Uolo Gets Seed Funding; Drishti Bags Funding from Nandan Nilekani; Schedulers Logistics Closes Series B Round & More

Student education tracking app Uolo has raised $210,000 (around Rs 1.4 crore) in seed funding; Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has invested an undisclosed amount in Bangalore-based Drishti; micro finance company Annapurna has raised Rs 35 crore equity infusion; education and skill development firm, Rise India has acquired a majority stake in tutor aggregator Padhopadhao.com; Gujarat-based venture fund, GVFL Ltd has invested Rs 40 crore in Schedulers Logistics India Pvt Ltd. and Mobikon has acquired MassBlurb, an automated online marketing platform for restaurants.

Student Education Tracking App Uolo Raises Seed Funding from Purvi Ventures

Uolo Technology Pvt. Ltd. backed student education tracking app Uolo has raised $210,000 (around Rs 1.4 crore) in seed funding. The funding was led by Purvi Ventures, Sunstone Business School director Rajul Garg and Vipin Arora, compensation director-Asia Pacific of Honeywell India.

Other investors who participated in this round include Exponentially I Mobility LLP and Artieca Family Trust. Six individuals also participated in the funding round. The deal was closed in February this year, as reported by VCCircle.

The funds will be used by the firm to upgrade the tech infrastructure, and on-board more schools.

Drishti Secures Funding from Billionaire Nandan Nilekani

Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani has invested an undisclosed amount in Bangalore-based Drishti, an eye care chain focused on providing affordable treatment in underserved markets.

With this new funding, Drishti will expand its reach to six more districts in Karnataka in the next phase of expansion, as per ETTech report. The latest funding in Drishti will mark the ninth venture that has been backed by Nilekani, who has actively invested in early-stage startups in the recent months.

Micro Finance Company Annapurna Raises Rs 35 Cr from Oikocredit

Bhuvaneshwar based micro finance company Annapurna has raised Rs 35 crore equity infusion from Netherlands based equity financing company Oikocredit, as per ET report.

Annapurna operates across 10 states in India and provides financial support to low income groups to help improve their standard of living. Its client base comprises more than 0.7 million borrowers with assets under management of approximately Rs 950 crore as on March 2016.

Gurgaon Based Rise India Buys Majority Stake in Padhopadhao.com

Gurgaon-based an education and skill development firm, Rise India has acquired a majority stake in tutor aggregator Padhopadhao.com as it aims to establish its presence in the online tuition market.

Rise India has acquired 60% stake in Padhopadhao.com, as per VCCircle report.

Financial details of the deal are still undisclosed by both the companies.

The acquisition will help the portal expand operations to cities such as Mumbai, Jaipur, Chennai, Chandigarh, Bangalore and Hyderabad.

Schedulers Logistics Raises Series B Round from Gujrat Venture Fund GVFL

Gujarat-based venture fund, GVFL Ltd has invested Rs 40 crore in Mumbai based integrated cold chain operator Schedulers Logistics India Pvt Ltd. Schedulers operates a fleet of reefer vehicles and temperature controlled warehouses across India. The transaction marks the second round of growth financing for GVFL's first exposure in the logistics sector.

"The funding will help Schedulers to get on an exponential growth curve by getting aggressive in capacity additions and furthering pan India presence including Gujarat by augmenting reefer fleet as well as cold storage capacity" said Arvind Gangoly, Co-founder & CEO, Schedulers.

Mobikon Acquires Automated Online Marketing Platform MassBlurb

Marketing Platform for the F&B industry, Mobikon, has acquired MassBlurb, an automated online marketing platform for restaurants.

As part of the acquisition, founders of Mumbai-based MassBlurb, Sanket Shah and Pankit Chheda will be taking up key roles at Mobikon. While Sanket will be managing the key accounts and partnerships across the company, Pankit will work closely with Mobikon’s CTO for new product initiatives. MassBlurb’s team will also join Mobikon as a result of this acquisition.

Mumbai-based MassBlurb is currently working with 200+ premium restaurant brands across India, automates everything a restaurant needs in the social space. It is present in 6 other cities across India.

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