Avanti Finance raises $24M in Series B funding from Rabo Partnerships and IDH Farmfit Fund

Avanti Finance—a Bengaluru-based technology-led NBFC focused on financial inclusion—has raised $24 million in Series B funding from Rabo Partnerships and IDH Farmfit Fund. Existing investors Oikocredit and NRJN Trust also participated in the round.

The investment will support Avanti's mission to provide frictionless, affordable, and hyperlocal credit products to smallholder farmers in India, enabling them to build sustainable livelihoods, Avanti Finance said in a statement.

The statement also said the investment in Avanti is in line with Rabo Partnerships' 'smallholder ecosystem' strategy, which focuses on providing data-driven finance solutions to smallholder farmers through local cooperatives and service providers. Rabo Partnerships is a wholly owned subsidiary of Rabobank Group, which is focused on financial inclusion and rural development.

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"This investment will support ongoing investments in our deep tech platform to develop fit-for-purpose hyperlocal credit products, automated data and social signals driven underwriting for data-dark customers, amplify our partnership network and accelerate co-lending programs with other financial institutions for capital efficiency," said Rahul Gupta, CEO of Avanti Finance.

Avanti has served 2.75 lakh households and disbursed over Rs 1,300 crore. It has a team of 65 employees and no proprietary branch. This, according to Gupta, showcases the power of the digital medium and leverages existing community-based networks.

"We are now ready to take the leap towards 1.5 million served households with a targeted AUM of over Rs 2,500 crore in the next 24 months,” he said.

Avanti, which was founded in 2016, says it has co-created more than 180 customised loan products to cater to different types of livelihood and income flows. The company has 75 partners including social enterprises, financial institutions, business correspondents, agritech players, and farmer producer prganisations, covering 24 states and 300 districts across India.

“We believe in Avanti’s vision of financial inclusion, especially for the agricultural sector, where access to appropriate financial services remains a challenge for many," said Marianne Schoemaker, CEO, Rabo Partnerships.

"Due to the large number of farmers, the digital infrastructure and the ICT talent available, the Indian market is the ideal place to test and scale innovative solutions for food transition and creating a more inclusive society," she added.

"This strategic partnership supports the IDH Farmfit Fund strategy to invest in innovative and impactful solutions that are enabling the access to finance and connected services to smallholder farmers so they can improve their livelihoods,” said Miguel Tamayo Maertens, Investment Director at IDH Farmfit Fund.

Abhiraj Krishna Associates acted as the legal advisors and Unitus Capital was the exclusive financial transaction advisor to Avanti in this round.