[Funding alert] Invoice discounting platform Cashflo raises $3.3M in Series A round from SAIF Partners, others
Cashflo will use the new funds for expanding its business, enhancing the platform, as well as increasing the team size, while keeping up with its growth plans.
![[Funding alert] Invoice discounting platform Cashflo raises $3.3M in Series A round from SAIF Partners, others](https://images.yourstory.com/cs/2/bd251c60-2d6a-11e9-aa97-9329348d4c3e/Founding_team_v21567517414932.jpg?mode=crop&crop=faces&ar=2%3A1&format=auto&w=1920&q=75)
Invoice discounting platform and SME lending marketplace Cashflo, on Tuesday said that it has raised $3.3 million as a part of its Series A round from SAIF Partners. The round also saw participation from select angel investors, including Ashish Iyer (previously Senior Partner at Boston Consultancy Group) and Arpan Sheth (Partner at Bain & Co-Managing Director, Bain & Co), among others.
According to the company, the new funds will be used for expanding the business, enhancing the platform as well as increasing their team size, while keeping up with the growth plans. The startup is aiming to expand to about 75 employees in the next 24 months.
Co-founder of Cashflo (L to R): Ankur Bhageria & Dushyant Agarwal
Incorporated in September 2017 by Ankur Bhageria and Dushyant Agarwal, Cashflo help sellers undertake working capital through discounting their invoices and get early payments to manage their working capital needs.
In a press statement, Ankur Bhageria, Co-Founder & CEO, Cashflo, said,
“This investment from SAIF Partners is a validation of the market opportunity and a testament to the hard work gone in to build this business so far. We are excited to partner with SAIF and be able to leverage their expertise and know-how, especially in financial services, in this next phase of growth. This round gives us the necessary fuel to become one of India’s leading supply chain financing platforms in the years to come.”
Ankur added that as an organisation, Cashflo is focused on solving for the day-to-day cash flow problems faced by small businesses. To implement this, Cashflo ties up with corporates and rolls out a supply chain financing programme for their entire base of vendors and dealer and distributors – MSME and non-MSME.
The startup claimed that unlike traditional solutions that typically leverage a single source of funding – either a financial institution or buyer’s own treasury surplus, Cashflo takes a holistic, integrated marketplace approach giving buyers, the flexibility to decide their funding mix across multiple sources while funding the sellers.
This multi-funder model with stock exchange-like dynamic pricing, ensures coverage of the entire supply chain and enables even the smallest SME to access funds, it stated.
Commenting on the investment, Mridul Arora, Managing Director, SAIF Partners said,
“We are delighted to partner with Cashflo which is riding on the massive tailwind of supply chains getting more organised and consolidated; with eventual unbundling of credit. We, at SAIF Partners, have a strong belief in the founding team’s vision of creating a multi-product, highly liquid and value-accretive credit platform.”
The startup, currently, has presence in more than 30 Indian cities, which include the top seven metros.
At present, Cashflo is working with corporate houses including the Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Bajaj Group and large corporates across sectors such as auto, retail, pharma, capital goods, textiles, logistics, and services amongst others.
(Edited by Evelyn Ratnakumar)
