With 9K loan requests a month, Fintech platform IndiaLends snaps up $1M bridge round led by existing investors

Delhi-based credit underwriting and analytics platform IndiaLends has secured $1 million bridge round from existing investors -- DSG Consumer Partners, Siddharth Parekh, Gautham Radhakrishnan and others. This investment comes within eight weeks of its previous fund-raise.

The company uses proprietary underwriting algorithms to help salaried and self-employed consumers and small businesses get access to unsecured loans at fair rates. It plans to allocate proceeds to grow its product suite, expand operations to seven cities, enhance technology and engage the best talent in the sector.

IndiaLends processes over 9,000 loan requests on a monthly basis and offers loans between INR 50K and 1.5 million.

“Our vision is to get rid of the unorganized lending sector in the country and bring more and more people into the fold of formal channels of credit using better underwriting techniques and technology. Through the use of technology, we have been able to facilitate higher approval rates, instantaneous decisions and quick disbursals and have seen a doubling of volumes on a monthly basis,” commented Mayank Kachhwaha, Co-founder of IndiaLends.

It has been founded by IIT Madras graduate Mayank Kachhwaha, and Gaurav Chopra, an alumnus of St. Stephen’s College, the London School of Economics and the London Business School. The duo had stints at Capital One in London before establishing IndiaLends.

So far the company has tied-up with close to 10 financial institutions and recently expanded its services to Mumbai and Bengaluru and Delhi (NCR).

IndiaLends captures and analyses a variety of relevant data points that help in assessing a borrowers’ credit worthiness. This, in turn, assists lenders (banks and NBFCs) in making informed lending decisions. Moreover, IndiaLends also provides a technology platform which is being used by some of the financial institutions to make credit assessments and manage loan originations.

Deepak Shahdadpuri, Managing Director, DSG Consumer Partners, commented, “Starting with four NBFCs, India Lends is now working with 10 NBFCs, has processed 8000 loan applications and Rs. 3 crores of loans have been approved and distributed. This new round of funding will ensure that the company not only maintains but accelerates its pace of growth.”

YourStory's take

Fintech was largely ignored by VCs, however, things have changed significantly over the past one year for this sector. Investors are now showing interest for fintech startups. Bankbazaar had secured Rs 375 crore Series C funding in July this year while online mutual funds investment platform Scripbox gobbled Rs 16 crore in August this year.

Online insurance distribution company Coverfox had secured $14 million last month. IndiaLends competes with Bankbazaar and LoanStreet among others.

Fintech space is going through interesting time and startups have a huge market to organize and make lending process frictionless. So far technology hasn’t touched finance and insurance space in a big way. On the lines of healthcare and education, this sector is also expected to produce a few unicorns in time to come. Stay tuned for more update in this sector.

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