Lendingkart Technologies Raises Rs 21 Cr from Sistema Asia Fund

Within a few days after raising ₹212 crore (US $30 million) in funding from Fullerton, Bertelsmann India and India Quotient, fintech startup Lendingkart Technologies on Friday said it has raised Rs 21 crore in fresh equity from Sistema Asia Fund (SAF).

With the latest infusion, the equity funding raised by Lendingkart stands at a total of US$146 million, a statement said.

The valuation of the company was not disclosed.

"The latest funding round with the help of the existing partners have signalled a strong support and trust in Lendingkart's vision of financial inclusion and digital accessibility for everyone," Lendingkart Technologies co-founder and Managing Director Harshvardhan Lunia said.

Last week, Lendingkart Technologies had said it has received an equity funding of Rs 212 crore (USD 30 million) from Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann India Investments and India Quotient. In the current round, the company has raised Rs 233 crore (USD 33 million) so far.

Since its inception, Lendingkart Finance (the NBFC arm of Lendingkart Group) has disbursed over 60,000 loans to more than 55,000 micro, small and medium enterprises. PTI SR SR

Lendingkart Raises $30 Mn in Funding from Fullerton, Bertelsmann India and India Quotient

Financial technology firm Lendingkart Technologies on Friday said it has raised a fresh equity funding of ₹212 crore (US $30 million) led by existing investors, including Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd (FFH), Bertelsmann India Investments and India Quotient.

With this funding round, the total equity raised by Lendingkart stands at USD 143 million, a statement said. In June, Lendingkart marked one of the largest startup venture debt transactions in India when it raised ₹ 80 crore from Alteria Capital, a Mumbai-based Venture Debt fund.

"The funding will be used to expand lending bases, deepen Lendingkart Group's reach to small and underserved micro enterprises and further strengthen its technological and analytics capabilities," it added.

Credit Suisse acted as the exclusive financial advisor to Lendingkart Technologies.

"This equity will help us meet the growth opportunities we are seeing. Micro and small businesses represent a vibrant yet underserved segment of the Indian economy," Lendingkart Technologies co-founder and Managing Director Harshvardhan Lunia said.

Lendingkart Finance, the NBFC arm of Lendingkart Group, has disbursed over 60,000 loans to more than 55,000 MSMEs in 1,300 cities. PTI SR

Alteria Capital Makes its Single Largest Investment of ₹80 crore in Lendingkart

Mumbai-based Alteria Capital, a Venture Debt fund focussed on innovative startups, has has made its single largest investment of ₹ 80 crore (~ $11.46 Mn) in digital lending firm Lendingkart, marking one of the largest startup venture debt transactions in India.

The investment, made in the non-banking financial (NBFC) arm of Ledingkart, is also the largest fundraise by the startup, which was founded by Harshvardhan Lunia and Mukul Sachan in 2014.

Lendingkart, which operates through two divisions -- Lendingkart Finance, a NBFC entity, and Lendingkart Technologies. The company focusses on small and medium enterprises (SMEs) with the ability to service deals pan-India.

Vinod Murali, managing partner, Alteria Capital, said in a statement to a business daily, "The last few quarters have witnessed a lot of volatility in the NBFC space but the companies which have robust underwriting platforms and a strong equity cushion have been able to turn this into an opportunity for growth. While liquidity has not been easily available for the broader market, Lendingkart has grown sharply during this phase."

Venture debt is an alternative form of financing for startups which helps augment equity capital. It enables founders to reduce dilution and improve their ownership as it is predominantly in the form of debt with a small equity kicker.

Based out of Ahmedabad, Gujarat, Lendingkart group has raised a total of about $167 Mn in funding over eight rounds including the latest one. The startup counts Singapore's Fullerton Financial Holdings, State Bank of India, Sistema Asia and Mayfield among its investors.

Lendingkart with other players including Capital Float, Neogrowth and IndiaLends, that offer small ticket-size loans, mostly unsecured credit, to borrowers with limited credit history.

Lendingkart Finance Expects 300% Growth by FY’18, Expands Its Reach to SMEs Across 650 Cities

Lendingkart Finance Limited, one of the leading NBFCs in the SME working capital space, today announced that it expects a growth of 300% by end of FY18. Lendingkart Finance has expanded its reach to 650 cities across the country, catering close to 8,000 SMEs till date for their working capital needs. Disbursing 11,000 loans across 28 states and 7 Union Territories, Lendingkart Finance is truly meeting the ever-increasing demand-supply gap of working capital requirement for thousands of SMEs.

Lendingkart Finance has assessed over 4,000 variables to determine the financial health, comparative market performance and social reliability quotient of borrowers to determine their creditworthiness. By leveraging on a robust technology platform, Lendingkart Finance facilitates seamless disbursal of loan and has witnessed more than 2 lakh SMEs across the country reaching out to them for their credit requirements.

Speaking on the development, Harshvardhan Lunia, CEO and Cofounder, Lendingkart Technologies said “Lendingkart Finance uses strong data analytic skills and has till now evaluated loan requirement of lakhs of SMEs which has been critical in plugging the finance gap especially for SMEs in tier 2 and below cities. With a focus on empowering small enterprises, especially those belonging to the unbanked population, Lendingkart Finance has continuously aimed at making the loan disbursal process simpler and seamless through minimum documentation. With the large majority of SMEs unable to access credit from traditional bank and other formalized institutions, Lendingkart Finance, through its reach and lending potential is working towards enabling true financial inclusion for many small and medium enterprises. As a business, our long-term vision is to replace distributor funding of SMEs from friends & family by offering relatively economical source of funds at the click of a button”.

As per the MSME ministry, although banks or formalized institutions have covered large part of the country, yet over 35% SMEs in the country does not have access to formalized institution. The demand of alternative lending platforms has increased quite significantly among SMEs in tier II & III cities and Lendingkart Finance is playing a critical role in addressing the largely underserved market by simplifying the loan disbursal process. The typical loan disbursal process for Lendingkart Finance is 72 hours from the time of application.

Lendingkart Group Raises $32M in Series B Funding from BII, Darrin Capital Management and Existing Investors

Lendingkart Group, India’s leading digital lending platform for SMEs has raised Rs. 205 crores ($32M) in new financing; out of which $ 20 million was raised as equity and $ 12 million as debt. This Series B round was led by Bertelsmann India Investments (BII), with participation from Darrin Capital Management and existing investors – Mayfield India, Saama Capital and India Quotient.

With this new round of funding, the company has raised Rs. 260 crore ($41M) till date. The latest infusion of growth capital will be used by the Lendingkart Group for strengthening its data science capabilities, enhancing its technology platform as well as infrastructure for improved mobile capabilities. Lendingkart Group aims to tap into India’s huge underserved lending market by expanding its footprint further across India. Over the past two years, Lendingkart Group has arranged loans to customers in 135 cities across 22 states, witnessing a 20% month-over-month growth in loan origination.

Founded in 2014, by ex-Banker, ISB Hyderabad alumnus, Harshvardhan Lunia and ex-ISRO scientist, IIM Bangalore alumnus, Mukul Sachan, Lendingkart Group has built a technology platform to service the working capital financing needs of SMEs in India. The company has partnered with leading online marketplaces and various Industry and Trade associations to service the financing needs of both online and offline SMEs.

Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder and CEO, Lendingkart Group said, “Our investors share our vision and have been instrumental in our growth journey. With Bertelsmann onboard, we look forward to leveraging its deep understanding of global financial products as well as Internet Businesses. With Financial Services leaders such as Arvato Financial Solutions as a part of the Group, Bertelsmann has strategic insights of the Fintech space with end to end process knowledge and expertise in digital origination. Bertelsmann brings a fresh perspective on digital distribution and data driven risk assessment which will help us in becoming the leading lending platform for SMEs in India.”

“Customer is at the core of what we do. We believe in providing simple, instant and flexible financing solutions to our borrowers. Using web and smartphones, customers can apply for a loan at their convenience. Our proprietary algorithms use over 2200 variables to assess the applicant’s credit worthiness. With funds being transferred in as less as 24 hours, credit on demand is becoming a reality”, said Lendingkart Group Co-Founder & COO, Mukul Sachan.

Bertelsmann Indian Investments, Managing Director, Pankaj Makkar said, “We are excited to partner with Lendingkart Group to build the next generation lending company in India and we believe lending is a large market which will see a lot of innovation. Lendingkart is a strong example of such innovation where technology and data can provide monetary access to the remote corners of India”

"Lendingkart Group has been very successful in proving that the underbanked SME space is as credit worthy as the over banked enterprise space.” Mayfield Managing Partner, Vikram Godse said.

Ash Lilani, Managing Partner, Saama Capital said, “We have been investors in Lendingkart Group since the seed round and have been extremely pleased at the pace of growth and how quickly it has established itself as the leader in B2B lending to SMEs. The fact that it is one of the few companies that leverages technology to be the true driver for its business has us very excited about the scale and efficiency as it goes to the next phase of growth.”

Avendus Capital was the exclusive financial advisor to this transaction.

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