B2B Lending Startup Mintifi Raises $40 Mn Funding From Norwest, Elevation

B2B digital lending startup, Mintifi, has raised $40 Mn in its Series C funding round led by Norwest Venture Partners and Elevation Capital.

The startup plans to use the fresh capital infusion to strengthen its tech infrastructure and expand its product offerings. Mintifi will also use the funding to scale up its platform and build an end-to-end fulfilment platform to deepen its engagement across the supply-chain network.

Financial services firm Avendus Capital served as the financial advisor to the startup on the transaction.

Speaking on the development, Mintifi CEO and cofounder, Anup Agarwal, said, “The entire B2B ecosystem is at the cusp of a massive transformation across credit, payments and fulfilments and we are happy to play our bit in driving it. Today, across industries, brands are using our platform to drive higher efficiency and faster growth in their supply chain network and we will continue to help SMEs grow their businesses. More importantly, we are proud to drive these innovations, while still ensuring profitability.”

Mintify was founded in 2017 by Anup Agarwal, Ankit Mehta and Sanjoy Shome. The B2B Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) platform is an online marketplace for business loans. It also provides a slew of services to its clients including digitising payments, invoicing and customised financing solutions.

The startup has so far raised upwards of $56 Mn in multiple funding rounds and is backed by investors like IFC and Elevation Capital.

Mintifi has grown over 4X year-on-year (YoY) financing nearly $300 Mn in annualised purchases. The startup expects the number to cross $1 Bn by 2023. The startup also partners with a host of banks and financial institutions to offer services on its co-lending platform.

Mintifi has close partnerships with over 100 leading brands across India. These include Tata Motors, Bridgestone Tyres, Berger Paints, Polycab, NIVEA, Jockey, among others.

The announcement comes on the heels of BNPL platform, Rupifi, raising $25 Mn in Series A funding. This was followed by Chennai-based neobank startup IppoPay raising $2.1 Mn in a seed round from Coinbase Ventures and other high-profile angel investors. Earlier this month too, Mumbai-based DMI Finance had also raised $47 Mn in an equity round from Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Bank and other existing investors.

Mintifi competes in the highly intense and cash-loaded fintech sector. Other players in this space include FlexiLoans, Simpl, among others.

India’s overall fintech market opportunity is estimated to be $1.3 Tn by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 31% during 2021-2025. Of this, lending tech is likely to account for 47%, approximately $616 Bn.

According to Inc42 research, the BNPL in India is expected to present a market opportunity of $43.3 Bn by 2025.

Close to $1.38 Bn was raised by lendingtech startups last year, more than double of what was raised back in 2020. The overall sector is witnessing a boom underlining the need and the demand for online lending products in the market. Beginning with a handful of startups, India now houses more than 200 funded startups in the lendingtech space, providing services to different sets of users in different formats.

Avendus Capital which served as the financial advisor for the transaction claims that B2B BNPL financing is a “$400 Bn opportunity which remains underpenetrated due to lack of low-ticket size financing and high operational costs.” With the demand steadily increasing on the B2B side, the future looks good for the segment.