Fintech Startup EzCred Raises $1 Mn Funding From Investor Consortium

Bengaluru-based consumer lending startup EzCred has raised more than $1 Mn from a consortium of investors. The investors include Dheeraj Pandey, CEO of Nutanix; Rajesh Yohannan, former MD and CEO of Oanda Asia Pacific; and Akash Garg Director of Engineering at Uber.

Other investors in the round included Citibank’s Sanjay Nambiar; Christian Oestlien, Director of Product Management at YouTube; Ratikant Sahu, digital delivery head at ANZ; and Neill Occhiogrosso, Partner at US-based Costanoa Ventures.

Talking about the funding investor Dheeraj Pandey said, “I am excited to be part of EzCred’s journey to enable credit for the masses. I see a strong team with a unique combination of both financial pedigree and technical capability and a laser-sharp focus to fundamentally transform how consumers access credit in India.”

EzCred was founded in January 2017 by Zipdial co-founder Amiya Pathak and former MD of Zephyr Peacock India Sachin Maheshwari. It is a marketplace for availing consumer loans at retail stores. The startup looks for borrowers that are looking for consumer loans and matches them with lenders for the transaction.

The startup will use the newly raised funding for technology development. And to develop new-age credit and fraud models using alternate data sources.

The startup has reportedly partnered with Noida-based YMS Mobitech, to reach out to 10,000 offline retailers across 300 cities. EzCred will go live with the product in the near future. It aims to target small business owners, lower income groups and students, and has tied up with a few banks and NBFCs.

The Indian fintech market is forecasted to touch $2.4 Bn by 2020, a two-fold increase from the market size currently standing at $1.2 Bn. Just yesterday, Mumbai-based fintech startup PaySense raised $5.3 Mn Series A funding led by Jungle Ventures, along with Naspers Group and Nexus Venture Partners. Other players in this segment include EarlySalary, Capital Float, Lendingkart, FlexiLoans, KredX, etc.

(The development was reported by ET)