Unfolding CredAvenue’s growth strategy post $90M Sequoia-led fundraise
In an exclusive interaction with YourStory’s Daily Dispatch, Gaurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, CredAvenue, shares the fintech startup’s plans to utilise funds and the future roadmap.
Debt platform is now strategising to become a unified Application Programming Interface (API) platform for enterprises.
The development comes after CredAvenue — which provides a platform to connect enterprises with investors and lenders — raised a Series A investment worth $90 million to further enhance its product suite. The startup will also use the funds to set up its data platform and onboard more enterprises on its platform.
Led by Sequoia Capital India and co-led by Lightspeed, TVS Capital Funds, and Lightrock, the round also saw participation from marquee investors, including CRED Founder Kunal Shah, Stride Ventures, etc.
“This is an endorsement of what we are building — an infrastructure to power the debt market. The possibilities for me and the team is immense,” says Gaurav Kumar, Founder and CEO, CredAvenue, in an exclusive interview with YourStory’s Daily Dispatch.
This is the second-largest Series A round into the Indian startup ecosystem, following GlobalBees’ $150 million funding round earlier this year.
Following this fundraise, CredAvenue is now valued at $410 million.
Leveraging the data platform
Founded in 2017 by Gaurav Kumar, CredAvenue lends capital to individuals and has five platforms under its belt — CredLoan, CredPool, CredSCF, Plutus, and CredCoLend.
Besides, the startup also provides SaaS services, including portfolio management and monitoring services, to its clientele.
The Chennai-based startup claims to clock a monthly run rate of $300 million and has onboarded over 1600 enterprises on its platform.
In the next 12-18 months, the fintech startup is expecting a 10X growth in enterprises, aiming to add 12,000-14,000 on the platform.
CredAvenue has over 2.4 million borrowers. Gaurav says investing in the data platform opens up several possibilities — from fraud detection to pattern recognition to investment in data, given the rapid growth of the platform.
Gaurav Kumar
COVID-19 and challenges
The startup attributes this growth to the challenges rooted in the COVID-19 pandemic. While the pandemic battered most business models, the debt market saw a consequential boost.
“Post-COVID-19, the world has largely moved to a credit-driven market,” shares Gaurav, adding that there are no liquidity challenges. He claims that CredAvenue saw a 10X growth since the onslaught of the pandemic.
Gaurav plans to attract two million customers to its operating platform and aims to sanction 8,000 loans per day. For its retail platform, the startup is targeting 25,000-26,000 loan disbursements per day.
The startup’s enterprise platform, a part of the fund deployment strategy, expects to onboard 3,000 customers by the end of FY21.
Content with the fundraising round, Gaurav says CredAvenue won’t be looking at more investment in the next 12-18 months.
Edited by Suman Singh