[Funding Alert] Avail Finance raises $11.5M in Series B round

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Avail Finance has announced that it has raised $11.5 million in Series B funding led by Alpha Wave Incubation (AWI), a $300 million venture fund managed by Falcon Edge Capital. The round also saw participation from existing investor Matrix Partners. 

Ankush Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Avail Finance, said,

“Avail Finance was founded with a vision to create an inclusive platform to serve a blue-collared workforce with financial solutions that meet their daily needs. The aim is to identify credit-worthy individuals that are currently underserved by formalised lending institutions such as banks and NBFCs and provide them with a line of credit by a hassle-free experience."

Ankush added that the funds will be used by the startup to expand the team, and to offer a varied product mix for our targeted users, including both existing and prospective.

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"Globally, the neo-banking sector has flourished and this trend has also been seen in the Indian market. With our financial solutions for the blue-collared workforce in India, we can capitalise on this current shift towards neo-banking through easy and digitised facilities suitable for the Indian market," he said.

Founded in 2017 by Ankush Aggarwal and Tushar Mehndiratta, Avail Finance is a fintech company that is focused on the gig economy segment. This Binny Bansal-backed startup has grown from being a lending platform to the blue-collar workforce to now a neo-bank with products in various categories such as savings, insurance, investment products etc.

Navroz D Udwadia, Co-founder and Partner of Falcon Edge Capital, said,

“The segments of the population that Avail targets are chronically under-served and starved for capital. Through its unique partnerships, Avail demonstrates best-in-class customer acquisition costs and has developed an AI-led underwriting engine and an alternate credit score to lend to these customers in a differentiated manner. Avail has built a solid execution track record in India, and we are excited to support their next phase of expansion to new markets across the region.” 

Earlier in 2019, Avail Finance had raised its Series A round of financing of $9 million led by Matrix Partners India.