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

Sistema Asia Fund to Expand its 1st Fund to $120 Mn for Doubling its Indian Startup Investments

Sistema Asia Fund (SAF), a proprietary venture capital fund of Russian conglomerate Sistema JSFC, is in the process of expanding its first fund to $120 million in order to double down its investments in Indian startups, reported Samreen Ahmad of Business Standard.

The VC fund will invest $40 million from its own while the other $80 million will raised from external investors, including limited partners and high networth individuals (HNIs) for which the company is already in talks with several HNIs and institutions in India.

The VC Fund however is keeping up with a greenshoe option for going up to $150 million for this fund if there's an added interest from external investors.

“Seeing how our company’s portfolio has shaped up, Sistema has decided to double down on its investment in India. We are also going to broad base our fund, so it just won’t be a single LP fund,” Sumit Jain, senior partner, Sistema Asia Fund Advisory said in a statement.

An alumnus of IIM Calcutta and IIT Kharagpur, Sumit Jain is a seasoned investment banking and VC veteran who has just joined Sistema few days back. Earlier, Sumit was serving in Kalaari Capital.

SAF, which will announce the first close of the fund expansion in the next few weeks, will use some of the top-up capital to invest in its existing portfolio companies apart from making new investments, post fund expansion.

Existing portfolio companies of SAF a diverse range of startups in India, include online meat seller Licious, internet kitchen brand Faasos, health and fitness app HealthifyMe, online pharmacy marketplace NetMeds, and lending startup Lendingkart.

The complete closure of the fund is expected by early next year.

Established by Sistema in 2015, SAF was established in Singapore and invests in mid-stage (Series B and later investment rounds) high-tech companies in India and Southeast Asia that work in the B2C and B2B segments and have stable sources of revenue and potential to go global.

The fund's industry focus is consumer tech (e-commerce, healthcare, transport, media, finance and education) and enterprise tech (IoT, VR/AR, platform solutions, big data, AI and machine learning).

Lendingkart Technologies Raises $10.51M in Equity from Sistema Asia Fund and Current Investors

Lendingkart Technologies today announced that it has raised Rs 70 crore ($10.51M) in the form of equity funds. Singapore-based Sistema Asia Fund along with current investors - Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient and Darrin Capital Management participated in this round.

With this fresh funding, the company has raised total funding of Rs 534 crore (equity of 243 crore and debt of 291 crore). The latest infusion of equity capital will enable the company to increase their loan book and strengthen its technology & analytics capabilities. Additionally, this will aid the company to further reach out to the underserved markets of India that continue to face lack of access to funds.

Founded in 2014, by ex-Banker & ISB Hyderabad alumnus, Harshvardhan Lunia and ex-Finance Director at Lebua Group Bangkok & IIM Bangalore alumnus, Mukul Sachan, Lendingkart Group has built a technology platform to service the working capital financing needs of SMEs in India.

Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder and CEO, Lendingkart Technologies said, “It is amazing to be associated with people who believe in us and share our vision of fulfilling credit requirements of millions of SMEs across the country. We are excited to have Sistema Asia Fund on board and look forward to further building our relationships with existing investors who continue to bring to the table fresh perspectives and strategic insights on market dynamics of current and future trends. It is this support that will help us in becoming the leading lending platform for SMEs in India.”

Dhruv Kapoor, Managing Director, Sistema Asia Fund Advisory said, “It is heartening to witness the exponential pace at which Lendingkart Technologies is scaling and solving a fundamental problem that ails small businesses in the country. Lendingkart’s data science driven approach and contactless distribution model is the answer to the needs of the SME sector overlooked by traditional banking infrastructure. We are privileged to join a world class team and an esteemed group of investors in fostering our collective vision of financial and digital inclusion.”

Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments said, “We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with Lendingkart Technologies that is working towards funding the underbanked SMEs. Digital lending is at an inflection point where technology and big data can help innovate on creating touchless credit evaluation and distribution leading to access of capital to the SME sector across the country. We are proud to be part of such a journey where Lendingkart is redefining the traditional business model and overcoming all existing barriers.”

Currently, Lendingkart Finance has extended its reach to over 720 cities in India across 29 states and 7 union territories offering quick and easy collateral-free loans with minimal paperwork. Once the evaluation process is completed, loan amount is disbursed to the qualifying borrower within 72 hours from the time of application. Till date, over 300,000 SMEs have reached out to Lendingkart Finance for their credit requirement and already 10,000+ SMEs have received funds.

Last month, LendingKart has raised $10 million (Rs 67 crores) debt fund from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Financial Services and other financial institutions.

Image: Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder and CEO, Lendingkart Technologies

Lendingkart Technologies Raises $10.51M in Equity from Sistema Asia Fund and Current Investors

Lendingkart Technologies today announced that it has raised Rs 70 crore ($10.51M) in the form of equity funds. Singapore-based Sistema Asia Fund along with current investors - Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient and Darrin Capital Management participated in this round.

With this fresh funding, the company has raised total funding of Rs 534 crore (equity of 243 crore and debt of 291 crore). The latest infusion of equity capital will enable the company to increase their loan book and strengthen its technology & analytics capabilities. Additionally, this will aid the company to further reach out to the underserved markets of India that continue to face lack of access to funds.

Founded in 2014, by ex-Banker & ISB Hyderabad alumnus, Harshvardhan Lunia and ex-Finance Director at Lebua Group Bangkok & IIM Bangalore alumnus, Mukul Sachan, Lendingkart Group has built a technology platform to service the working capital financing needs of SMEs in India.

Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder and CEO, Lendingkart Technologies said, “It is amazing to be associated with people who believe in us and share our vision of fulfilling credit requirements of millions of SMEs across the country. We are excited to have Sistema Asia Fund on board and look forward to further building our relationships with existing investors who continue to bring to the table fresh perspectives and strategic insights on market dynamics of current and future trends. It is this support that will help us in becoming the leading lending platform for SMEs in India.”

Dhruv Kapoor, Managing Director, Sistema Asia Fund Advisory said, “It is heartening to witness the exponential pace at which Lendingkart Technologies is scaling and solving a fundamental problem that ails small businesses in the country. Lendingkart’s data science driven approach and contactless distribution model is the answer to the needs of the SME sector overlooked by traditional banking infrastructure. We are privileged to join a world class team and an esteemed group of investors in fostering our collective vision of financial and digital inclusion.”

Pankaj Makkar, Managing Director, Bertelsmann India Investments said, “We are delighted to be continuing our relationship with Lendingkart Technologies that is working towards funding the underbanked SMEs. Digital lending is at an inflection point where technology and big data can help innovate on creating touchless credit evaluation and distribution leading to access of capital to the SME sector across the country. We are proud to be part of such a journey where Lendingkart is redefining the traditional business model and overcoming all existing barriers.”

Currently, Lendingkart Finance has extended its reach to over 720 cities in India across 29 states and 7 union territories offering quick and easy collateral-free loans with minimal paperwork. Once the evaluation process is completed, loan amount is disbursed to the qualifying borrower within 72 hours from the time of application. Till date, over 300,000 SMEs have reached out to Lendingkart Finance for their credit requirement and already 10,000+ SMEs have received funds.

Last month, LendingKart has raised $10 million (Rs 67 crores) debt fund from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Financial Services and other financial institutions.

Image: Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder and CEO, Lendingkart Technologies

Russia's Sistema to Set Up 100% Arm to Provide Hands-on Business execution Assistance to Indian startups

In a news that could benefit a lot of Indian startups, Russia's $10-billion conglomerate Sistema JSFC is considering setting up a wholly owned unit in the Indian subcontinent, according to a report in the Economic Times. The Indian unit will be providing hands-on business execution assistance to Indian startups working in domains like financial technologies, ecommerce, digital analytics, etailing and lifestyle.

According to the ET report, a source aware of the matter has disclosed to them that the new Sistema India subsidiary will be handholding Indian startups under its new Scalerator platform through a host of services, including go-to-market strategies, solutions to scale up business growth and even the support of a back-up operations team, if required.

The Scalerator platform, which combines the words sale and accelerator, will be helping local startups in growing their businesses rapidly but in a cost-efficient way.

The report also revealed that the legal formalities for the Indian unit have already begun. Though the subsidiary will be registered in Singapore, Sistema’s global venture capital team is currently on Indian soil scouting promising startups in Hyderabad, Bengaluru, Chennai and Kochi, which can use some support from its Scalerator initiative to take the next leap.

The startups who make the cut might also be eligible for financing from Russian company’s proprietary Venture Capital fund, Sistema Asia Fund. The fund plans on doubling its capital for Indian startups to a whopping $100 million by early next year. As of now, the VC fund is financing startups working in the tech and consumer-tech spaces.

The startup business accelerator industry is getting bigger with each passing year, especially in the US, Canada and Europe. Russia's Sistema is focused on cracking this big opportunity after it entered the startup financing industry last year and zeroed in on India and South East Asia as it focus markets.

Russia's Sistema decided to enter the startup financing market in India after Reliance Communications, India's fourth-largest telecom operator, announced its intention to acquire its telecom unit, Sistema Shyam Teleservices, which offers mobile telephony services under MTS brand across nine telecom circles in the country.

Seclore Gets $12 million in Series B Funding by Helion Ventures, VentureEast, Sistema Asia Fund and India Alternatives

Enterprise Digital Rights Management (EDRM) leader, Seclore, has raised $12 million in Series B funding by Helion Ventures, VentureEast, Sistema Asia Fund, and India Alternatives.

Seclore enables organizations to protect 60 percent more files due to its automated, connected approach to EDRM, ensuring more files are secured as they are used in collaboration. A growing client roster of Global 5000 companies in the insurance, financial services, legal, telecom, and manufacturing industries rely on Seclore’s technology to protect information as it is shared externally.

The company's EDRM solution enables organizations to control the usage of files wherever they go, both within and outside of organizations’ boundaries. Featuring dozens of pre-built connectors for leading enterprise applications (EFSS, DLP, ECM, ERP, and email), Seclore automates the protection of documents as they are downloaded, discovered, and shared to accelerate adoption.

With the most advanced and secure EDRM technology, the firm was recently recognized by Frost & Sullivan with a Growth Excellence award, by Deloitte as one of the ‘50 Fastest Growing Technology Companies,’ and by Gartner as a ‘Cool Vendor,’ due to innovations in browser-based access to protected documents. With over 4 million users across 400 companies in 29 countries, Seclore is helping organizations achieve their data security, governance, and compliance objectives.

“There is a dramatic uptick in the demand for EDRM as the need to collaborate securely with external partners grows. Organizations are finding that persistent, granular file-centric security is the best defense against cyber-attacks and other risks associated with the sharing of sensitive information,” said Vishal Gupta, CEO at Seclore. “Our solid growth in the fiscal year ending March, 2016, along with the Series B funding, will enable us to continue driving technological innovations in the EDRM space.”

Image Source: ShutterStock