Lending startup Aye Finance raises $10M from responsAbility

Aye Finance, a MSME lending platform, on Thursday announced that it has raised $10 million of ECB (External Commercial Borrowings) from Swiss-based responsAbility Investments AG.

Headquartered in Zurich, responsAbility is a leading asset manager for impact investments in emerging economies. The company has been supporting Aye in its mission to create an inclusive India since 2017 and this is the fifth investment via debt for the fintech lender.

Aye will use the funds to offer business loans to the excluded microenterprise sector to support its growth and enable its inclusion into the formal economy.

Commenting on the latest fundraise, Sanjay Sharma, MD and Founder of Aye Finance, said, “We are currently witnessing a surge in credit applications from the microenterprise sector as businesses are being rebuilt post the disruptions caused by the pandemic. The support we are receiving from global impact leaders like responsAbility allows us to continue in our mission of transforming microenterprise lending in India by providing entrepreneurs customised business loans at affordable prices.”

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Founded in 2014, Aye provides unsecured small-ticket business loans to a large credit-starved micro-enterprise segment. The lender is backed by CapitalG, Elevation Capital, Light Rock, Alpha Wave, A91 Partners, and MAJ Invest.

Rudrashis Roy, Investment Officer at responsAbility Investments AG, said, “For over five years now, Aye Finance has been a trusted partner in our endeavour to bridge the credit gap in the micro enterprise sector via private capital funding. We are once again delighted to collaborate with Aye to support the growth of small, resilient businesses post a difficult couple of years.”