[Funding alert] SME lending startup Indifi raises Rs 145 Cr in Series C round led by CDC Group
The funding round for SME lending startup Indifi also saw participation from a new investor Fair Finance Fund LLC along with existing investors such as Omidyar Network, Elevar Equity, and Accel.
Gurugram-based Indifi Technologies, a debt-financing startup that facilitates SME lending with a focus on customer-product fit, has raised Rs 145 crore in Series C funding led by CDC Group, according to RoC filings accessed by YourStory.
The round also saw participation from a new investor Fair Finance Fund LLC, along with existing investors such as Omidyar Network, Elevar Equity, and Accel.
As per the filings by the company on July 11, CDC Group has invested Rs 100 crore for 71,08,870 Series C compulsorily convertible preference shares (Series C CCPS) and 100 equity shares, each at a price of Rs 140.67.
Omidyar Network and Fair Finance Fund have infused Rs 10.39 crore each, while Accel and Elevar poured in Rs 23.22 crore Rs 99.1 lakh, respectively.
The company aims to utilise the funds for expansion and modernisation of existing business, diversification into new areas of business, development of infrastructure for future growth, capital expenditures, working capital requirements, repayment of debts and other general corporate objectives in the foreseeable future, reveal the filings.
Founded by Alok Mittal, Siddharth Mahanot and Sundeep Sahi in May 2015, Indifi provides term loan, line of credit, invoice discounting, and merchant cash advance services to small businesses in categories such as travel, hotel, ecommerce, restaurant, trading, and retail.
In December 2016, Indifi had secured $10 million in a Series B round led by Omidyar Network along with Accel and Elevar Equity.
In the past few months, a few other startups in the lending space also raised funding, making this sector an interesting one to watch out for.
Mumbai-based three online lending startups such as Happy received $20 million to grow its artificial intelligence (AI) powered lend-tech model, InCred closed its Series A round of Rs 600 crore led by Dutch development finance institution FMO, and CreditVidya secured $3 million led by Bharat Innovation Fund.
Gujarat-based LendingKart raised Rs 80 crore debt capital led by Alteria Capital.
New Delhi-based Cash Suvidha received $2.3 million in debt across the first quarter of FY 2019-20 (between April and June this year).
Bengaluru-based ZestMoney also secured $20 million in Series B led by Washington DC-headquartered fintech investor Quona Capital.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)