Capital Float Acquires Pune-based Personal Finance App Walnut for $30 Mn

Online SME lending firm Capital Float today said it has acquired Pune-based Thumbworks Technologies, which owns and operates personal finance management app Walnut, for US$30 million (~ Rs.210 crore) in a cash and stock deal.
With about 25% of Capital Float's business coming from consumer finance and the rest from SME lending, Capital Float said that the acquisition would further help its foray into the consumer finance space. With the acquisition, Capital Float will acquire 35 members from Pune-based Thumbworks Technologies Pvt Ltd, which owns Walnut, bringing its total team strength to 650.

Founded in 2014, by former Motorola Mobility executives - Amit Bhor and Patanjali Somayaji, Walnut is a smart personal digital assistant that analyzes the SMS inbox of users to surface important and critical information, including expenses, bills, and tickets. It does not look at or analyze personal messages coming from 10-digit mobile numbers and is designed to view only the messages coming from businesses such as banks and merchants.

Happy to share that Walnut has been acquired by @CapitalFloat. Together, we look forward to creating more exciting #personalfinance products for consumers https://t.co/ucUusxRaH6 #fintech #startups #Pune pic.twitter.com/v7EikGcNKU

— Walnut (@getwalnutapp) August 21, 2018

In 2016, Walnut added former ICICI Bank Deputy General Manager, Anurag Sinha, as Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer.

Backed by prominent investors including SAIF Partners and Sequoia capital, among others, the app has seen 7 million downloads in India, that helps users to automatically track spends, bank and card balances, bill payments, and split expenses within a group, in just a few clicks.

With an average rating of 4.4/5, Walnut was recently featured in Google Editor’s Choice list of top 5 financial applications.

Among Walnut's most well-received products is Walnut Prime, which provides small-ticket, app-based credit line for its users. Launched in July 2017, Walnut Prime recently crossed Rs 100 crore in loans to users.

"Another thing that sold us on Walnut was its offering "Prime Credit Score." Unlike traditional credit metrics, Walnut's prime credit score looks alternate data sets like one’s income, purchase behaviour, earning capacity and security savings. It also looks at spending pattern via e-commerce sites, wallets, shopping, food, bills etc. We felt their product offering was unique and would benefit us; giving us a 360 degree view of what customers need," said Sashank Rishyasringa, co-founder, Capital Float.

“Since we launched Walnut, we have been focused on simplifying personal finance for our users. We’re excited to partner with Capital Float as we aim to exponentially grow Walnut. Capital Float's strength in the online lending space will bring us a whole new set of opportunities," said Patanjali Somayaji, cofounder, Walnut.

Capital Float cofounder Gaurav Hinduja said this was also a talent merger and the entire team of Walnut would be absorbed in Capital Float. "We disburse Rs 250 crore per month in loans to more than 1.25 lakh customers. By FY19, we hope to disburse more than Rs 5,000 crore -- over and above current disbursals.," he added.

Source - Times of India

Amazon Invests $22 Mn in Bengaluru-Based Fintech Startup Capital Float

Capital Float, a Bengaluru headquartered digital lending startup, has raised $22 million (~ ₹144 crore) in equity funding from Amazon Inc. This round will be part of the Series C round in August 2017 when it raised $45 million (~ ₹293 crore) from US-based Ribbit Capital and existing investors SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments. The total funding raised by Capital Float to date is now close to $110 million.

Founded in 2013 by Stanford University alumni Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, Capital Float is an NBFC registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It offers short term working capital to SMEs along as well as specialized credit and financial loans to businesses and utilizes its own proprietary loan underwriting system to lend to potential borrowers.

The freshly raised funds via Amazon will be used by the startup to do product innovations, expand into new lending categories and build proprietary underwriting algorithms.

Earlier in 2017, the startup had raised debt capital from several investors. It raised Rs 15 crore from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services by allotting non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and Rs 17 crore from IFMR Capital Finance through NCDs in December 2016. Not only this, Capital Float has recently partnered with Amazon India to enable e-commerce sellers to manage their dynamic working capital requirements.

Amazon has been a big customer for Capital Float, which sees 20% of their customer base come from e-commerce sellers and vendors. This latest investment seems to be in line with its strategy to get a stronger hold on India’s fintech space.

Gaurav Hinduja said that the equity round is independent of its business relationship. "We have been working with Amazon by financing sellers on their marketplace. In the past six months alone, we’ve added several new products and crossed Rs1,200 crore in overall loan portfolio outstanding," he said.

The above news was first reported in Live Mint.

Speaking about Amazon, the e-commerce giant has been active in investing in Indian startups in the financial space to get a wider customer base. Earlier this year, IndianWeb2 reported that Amazon was in talks to invest in Mumbai-based online insurance startup Acko.

Recent Funding in FinTech Space

Earlier this month, New Delhi-based Namaste Credit, an another fintech category startup has raised USD 3.8 million in series A round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners. Prior to that, Bangalore-based fintech startup SmartCoin had raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from a top Shanghai headquartered VC fund and Accion Venture Lab. Prior to this, Cash Suvidha, a Delhi-based fintech startup, raised $1 million pre-Series A funding from Initia Holdings Ltd.

In February, a Mumbai based fintech startup Fincash.com raised $150,000 in funding from angel investors including like Mohammed Khan (Founder of Rediffusion), Sameer Narayan (ex- Fund Manager BNP Paribas), among others. Prior to that, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup NiYO Solutions raised $13.2 million in its Series A funding from investors including Social Capital, JS Capital LLC (the family office of Jonathan Soros), and Horizons Ventures and existing investor Prime Venture Partners.

Last November, an Artificial intelligence-powered fintech startup Active.Ai raised $8.25 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures, Creditease Holdings and Dream Incubator.

Fintech space continue to be the most invested segment among startups in India. According to a NASSCOM report published in November 2017 Fintech, along with healthcare, are most funded segments of startups in India, in past one year. The total number of startups in the fintech space has gone up to 360 from 275 in 2016, thus registering 31% growth in the number of startups.

Amazon Invests $22 Mn in Bengaluru-Based Fintech Startup Capital Float

Capital Float, a Bengaluru headquartered digital lending startup, has raised $22 million (~ ₹144 crore) in equity funding from Amazon Inc. This round will be part of the Series C round in August 2017 when it raised $45 million (~ ₹293 crore) from US-based Ribbit Capital and existing investors SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments. The total funding raised by Capital Float to date is now close to $110 million.

Founded in 2013 by Stanford University alumni Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, Capital Float is an NBFC registered with the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). It offers short term working capital to SMEs along as well as specialized credit and financial loans to businesses and utilizes its own proprietary loan underwriting system to lend to potential borrowers.

The freshly raised funds via Amazon will be used by the startup to do product innovations, expand into new lending categories and build proprietary underwriting algorithms.

Earlier in 2017, the startup had raised debt capital from several investors. It raised Rs 15 crore from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services by allotting non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and Rs 17 crore from IFMR Capital Finance through NCDs in December 2016. Not only this, Capital Float has recently partnered with Amazon India to enable e-commerce sellers to manage their dynamic working capital requirements.

Amazon has been a big customer for Capital Float, which sees 20% of their customer base come from e-commerce sellers and vendors. This latest investment seems to be in line with its strategy to get a stronger hold on India’s fintech space.

Gaurav Hinduja said that the equity round is independent of its business relationship. "We have been working with Amazon by financing sellers on their marketplace. In the past six months alone, we’ve added several new products and crossed Rs1,200 crore in overall loan portfolio outstanding," he said.

The above news was first reported in Live Mint.

Speaking about Amazon, the e-commerce giant has been active in investing in Indian startups in the financial space to get a wider customer base. Earlier this year, IndianWeb2 reported that Amazon was in talks to invest in Mumbai-based online insurance startup Acko.

Recent Funding in FinTech Space

Earlier this month, New Delhi-based Namaste Credit, an another fintech category startup has raised USD 3.8 million in series A round of funding from Nexus Venture Partners. Prior to that, Bangalore-based fintech startup SmartCoin had raised $2 million in pre-Series A funding from a top Shanghai headquartered VC fund and Accion Venture Lab. Prior to this, Cash Suvidha, a Delhi-based fintech startup, raised $1 million pre-Series A funding from Initia Holdings Ltd.

In February, a Mumbai based fintech startup Fincash.com raised $150,000 in funding from angel investors including like Mohammed Khan (Founder of Rediffusion), Sameer Narayan (ex- Fund Manager BNP Paribas), among others. Prior to that, a Bengaluru-based fintech startup NiYO Solutions raised $13.2 million in its Series A funding from investors including Social Capital, JS Capital LLC (the family office of Jonathan Soros), and Horizons Ventures and existing investor Prime Venture Partners.

Last November, an Artificial intelligence-powered fintech startup Active.Ai raised $8.25 million in Series A funding led by Vertex Ventures, Creditease Holdings and Dream Incubator.

Fintech space continue to be the most invested segment among startups in India. According to a NASSCOM report published in November 2017 Fintech, along with healthcare, are most funded segments of startups in India, in past one year. The total number of startups in the fintech space has gone up to 360 from 275 in 2016, thus registering 31% growth in the number of startups.

Fintech Startup Capital Float In Talks To Raise Rs 300 crore

Capital Float, a digital lending startup is reportedly is in advanced talks to raise around Rs 300 crore in a new funding round.

According to the media reports, Ribbit Capital, the US-based finance technology focused venture capital is in talks to lead the fresh round of funding. It is believed that existing investors SAIF Capital and Sequoia Capital will also participate in the latest round so that their stake in the company is maintained. The company plans to utilise the fresh funds for expanding its lending portfolio to consumer financing and for financing kirana stores as well. After this round, the company is expected to be valued at around Rs 1,300 crore.

Founded in 2013, the startup is based in Bengaluru with offices in New Delhi and Mumbai. The fintech startup is an online platform that provides working capital finance to SMEs in India. The company offers flexible, short-term loans that can be used to purchase inventory, service new orders or optimize cash cycles. With the help of this platform, borrowers can apply online in minutes, select desired repayment terms and receive funds in their bank accounts in 3 days with minimal hassle.

Capital Float is the trade name of Zen Lefin Pvt. Ltd., a non-banking finance company (NBFC) registered with the RBI. Talking about their management team, it consists of experienced professionals with prior careers in blue-chip companies such as McKinsey & Company, Gokaldas Exports, Oracle, Citibank, Capital First, and Wipro. They also hold advanced degrees from leading universities around the world such as Stanford University, Princeton University, IIT Mumbai, The London School of Economics and Delhi University.

Earlier in 2017, the startup had raised debt capital from several investors. It raised Rs 15 crore from Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services by allotting non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and Rs 17 crore from IFMR Capital Finance through NCDs in December 2016. Not only this, Capital Float has recently partnered with Amazon India to enable e-commerce sellers to manage their dynamic working capital requirements.

Talking about Ribbit Capital, it has been investing in India since 2014. The firm has invested in companies like Policybazaar.com, a Gurgaon-based fintech startup, consumer lending startup ZestMoney to name few.

Industrybuying Partners With Capital Float to Offer Credit Up to 25 Lakhs

India’s leading B2B e-commerce startup Industrybuying has joined hands with Capital Float, the largest digital lending platform in the country, to offer a unique credit solution called ‘Pay Later’ to businesses across India. This cutting-edge loan product enables SMEs to procure industrial products using a pre-defined credit line that gets reset upon repayment.

Ms. Swati Gupta, Co-founder & CEO, Industrybuying said, “Working capital management is a problem faced by most SMEs. Along with solving this problem for existing businesses, the availability of hassle-free loans can help numerous entrepreneurs to lead the establishment of various SMEs and SMBs in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities of India wherein the real bulk of India’s bustling industrial sector lies. We are seeing more and more businesses buying online for their procurement and other business purposes. This is a huge step in that direction and we are delighted to extend this option to our customers.”

‘Pay Later’ product comes as a convenient feature for SMEs and SMBs looking to procure industrial products as it allows them to avail online credit of up to 25 lakhs almost instantaneously without paperwork and hassles associated with getting a loan from elsewhere.

Gaurav Hinduja, Co-founder, Capital Float says, “The market opportunity is sizeable and encouraging. Our collaboration with IndustryBuying will incorporate the strengths of two growing businesses, taking finance to tier 2 and tier 3 markets, which were previously ignored due to inadequate financial infrastructure. We intend to make convenient finance accessible to SMEs at a granular level.”

To avail the Pay Later option, companies need to register themselves on the Industrybuying website and Industrybuying will share customer details with Capital float for processing. Post verification done by Capital Float, the credit line will be setup on IndustryBuying and ready for use within 72 hours. Payment through Pay Later is available for a purchase amount of Rs. 25,000 or higher.

Industrybuying is revolutionizing B2B E-commerce with the introduction of innovative and Business-friendly Payment mechanisms on its platform. Earlier, Industrybuying had also partnered with Innoviti and integrated EMI features for its customers who were transacting through debit/credit card and looking to avail EMI features at a flexible interest rate.

'Capital Float' a SME loan provider get $2 mn funding from Aspada

Capital Float, a Bangalore based online platform that provides working capital finance to SMEs in India has raised $2 million (Rs.12 crore) from Aspada Investment Company. The company works with SMEs across a variety of sectors, including manufacturing, services, and e-commerce and is led by Gaurav Hinduja and Sashank Rishyasringa, who both returned to India to start Capital Float after completing their MBAs at Stanford University.

"Small businesses are the key to India's sustained growth, yet most lack access to mainstream bank finance and cannot easily access working capital and short term debt. As a result, many are forced to resort to borrowing from friends and family, supplier credit, or high interest loans from informal sources to meet the day-to-day funding needs of the business," said Gaurav Hinduja.

"The majority of SMEs today operate with cash cycles of 60 days or longer, with few institutional options for working capital finance. By investing in technology, we've lowered the costs of customer acquisition and credit decision-making, and developed a methodology for timely and transparent financing that can benefit a vastly underserved and unorganized segment," explained Sashank Rishyasringa.

Capital Float offers loans ranging from Rs 3 lac - 30 lac, with terms between 1 - 12 months. Capital Float is the trade name of Zen Lefin Pvt. Ltd., a non-banking finance company (NBFC) registered with the RBI. The company is headquartered in Bangalore.

"Capital Float possesses an outstanding founding team that has built a sophisticated platform that is unique within the Indian small business lending segment. There are numerous global proxies of enormous scale in this model, and we believe that the Capital Float team can build a world-class organization that can alter the market for SME finance in India and beyond," said Kartik Srivatsa of Aspada Investment Advisors.

The Aspada Investment Company which is also based out of Bangalore, is backed with a significant commitment from the Soros Economic Development Fund (SEDF). Aspada has also invested in end-to-end fresh vegetable supply chain company, Lawrencedale Agri Processing, which operates in South India to aggregate fresh produce at the farm gate and sell to retail consumers in major markets under the LEAF brand; ThinkLink Supply Chain Services, a provider of turnkey project management, design, skill development, and staffing services in India's logistics and supply chain sectors; NeoGrowth Credit, a merchant cash advance business that provides loans to small merchants in India; and Schedulers Logistics, an end-to-end cold chain logistics provider. In addition, Aspada also oversees the portfolio of the SONG Fund, an early stage venture capital firm funded by the Soros Economic Development Fund, Omidyar Network, and Google.