Lendingkart Finance raises Rs 30 Cr, its fourth debt round in seven months

Lendingkart Finance Limited on Tuesday announced it raised Rs 30 crore in non-convertible debentures from Dutch development bank Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden NV (FMO), which invests in growth and frontier markets.

According to the company, the debt funds will be used towards growing its loan book, and expanding the reach of Lendingkart Finance across SME industries in different parts of the country.

This transaction also marks the first-ever foreign debt transaction for the company. In a statement, LendingKart said it plans to reach over 950 cities across India.

Started in 2014, Lendingkart Finance (formerly AadriInfin Limited), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Lendingkart Group, is a non-deposit taking NBFC, and offers small business loans to SMEs in India.

Lendingkart Finance claims to have disbursed over 20,000 loans to more than 13,000 SMEs across 23 sectors so far.

Speaking on the debt funding, Harshvardhan Lunia, CEO and Co-founder, Lendingkart Technologies said,

“This being our first foreign debt raise, will open avenues for Lendingkart Finance’s future foreign debt funding as well. It is quite inspiring to see the emphasis that FMO lays on improving systems and processes for the borrower community, and we are certain to imbibe some of their learning. This freshly raised capital from our first financial inclusion and impact focused global fund will be utilised to refuel our loan book that will allow us to cater to a wider range of SMEs who need working capital finance.”

Marnix Monsfort, Head of Financial Institutions, Asia, from FMO, said,

“We believe in innovation, and the way in which Lendingkart Finance has leveraged technology to make borrowing an inclusive and hassle-free process is a great indication. Digital lending is an exciting and a large space that has grown tremendously in the last couple of years. The innovation that the sector has witnessed has played a key role in bringing financial inclusivity to the remotest corners of India. ”

According to the company, till date, over 470,000 SMEs have reached out to Lendingkart Finance for their credit requirement.

In December, LendingKart Finance had announced it raised Rs 25 crore in cash credit from State Bank of India. The funds raised were used to further expand the loan book, and give out loans to SMEs.

In June, the firm raised debt of Rs 50 crore from YES Bank. In August, it raised $10 million debt funding from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Financial Services and other financial institutions.

It also raised equity round of Rs 70 crore in September from Singapore-based Sistema Asia Fund along with participation from current investors - Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient and Darrin Capital Management.

At that time, the company said its total funding quantum was Rs 534 crore (Rs 243 crore in equity and a debt of Rs 291 crore).