Aye Finance Raises INR 107 Cr To Expand Lending Portfolio

Gurugram-based financial services startup Aye Finance, on Thursday (December 26), announced that it has raised INR 107 Cr debt funding from Switzerland-based impact investor, BlueOrchard.

With the recently raised funds, Aye Finance will grow its loan book, expand the lending portfolio, and offer affordable and customised credit solutions to small and micro enterprises (SMEs) in India.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, Aye Finance provides B2B lending services to small and micro enterprises across India. For its financial services, the company claims to be leveraging technologies such as data science coupled with a cluster-based underwriting model to keep its operating costs low. Using these technologies, Aye Finance claims to help startups in improving their underwriting and inadequate documentation problems.

Since its inception, Aye Finance has lent INR 2700 Cr to over 196K small scale business in the country. Moreover, the startup claims that it has an active customer base of over 130K and assets under management (AUM) of INR 1500 Cr. In 2019, Aye Finance has expanded its presence in around 173 cities in 18 Indian states.

For BlueOrchard, this is the sixth time in which it is investing in Aye Finance. Investing first time in May 2017, BlueOrchard has so far invested around INR 290 Cr in the lending startup.

Aye Finance’s Funding Spree

In 2019, Aye Finance’s vision of creating a more inclusive India has been backed by multiple investors throughout the year. Last month, the lending startup raised INR 125 Cr from Dutch entrepreneurial development bank, FMO. At that time, the NBFC startup said that it will be utilising the money to expand its presence in providing credit, specifically for women-led micro-enterprises in the country.

In September 2019, it had raised INR 80 Cr in debt funding from an undisclosed investor. Prior to this, the startup had raised INR 71 Cr from responsAbility Investments AG, a Swiss impact investor.

Further, in July 2019, the lending company has raised INR 55 Cr in debt funding from DCB Bank through a securitisation deal. Moreover, in March, the startup has raised INR 233.62 Cr led by New York-based investment firm Falcon Edge Capital. Existing investors CapitalG, LGT and MAJ Invest also participated in the round.

The company started 2019 with an INR 71.32 Cr debt funding round from global impact investment manager, responsAbility and Northern Arc, through the issuance of non-convertible debentures. Overall this year, Aye Finance has raised over INR 1140 Cr in debt and equity funding rounds.

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