Fintech Neobanking Startup Kaleidofin Nets $13.8 Mn To Expand Its Lending Play

Fintech neobanking startup Kaleidofin has secured $13.8 Mn (around INR 115 Cr) in a fresh funding round led by Rabo Partnerships, a subsidiary of the Rabobank focused on rural development and financial inclusion.

The round also saw participation from existing backers, including Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Oikocredit, Omidyar Network India and Flourish Ventures.

With this fresh infusion, the Chennai-based startup seeks to double down on its lending portfolio and strengthen credit scoring, middleware technology and risk services via strategic partnerships.

Founded in 2017 by former IFMR Holdings executives Sucharita Mukherjee and Puneet Gupta, Kaleidofin offers financial solutions to low income, underbanked customers and businesses in the informal economy. Its platform aims to unlock financing for these customers by tapping credit health assessments, middleware technology, risk management tools and debt capital market solutions.

Since its inception, the startup claims to have raised $37 Mn in total funding.

“Rabo Partnerships’ focus on the agri sector will further strengthen our capabilities in serving the customer, underwriting the customer and in offering customers and small businesses more suitable loans in the agri segment,” said Mukherjee.

“We are very pleased to support Kaleidofin’s mission to offer innovative financial solutions, targeting millions of customers who lack convenient access to formal financial services,” said Marianne Schoemaker, chief executive at Rabo Partnerships.

In 2022, the startup cumulatively raised $25 Mn in separate tranches as part of its Series B funding rounds.

Prior to that, in 2019, it bagged INR 36 Cr in its Series A funding round led by Oikocredit.

This comes close on the heels several neobanking players rushing to grab a pie of the market as competition swells in India.

For instance, in June, women-focused neobanking startup LXME raised $1.2 Mn in a seed funding round led by Kalaari Capital via its CXXO initiative.

In the country’s broader startup ecosystem, fintech market continues to grow at a rapid pace. According to Inc42 data, India has over 24 fintech unicorns, and 36 soonicorns.

These startups are trying to grab a pie of the country’s fast-growing fintech market which is expected to become a $2.1 Tn opportunity by 2030.

The Economic Survey 2023-24 also said that India aims to become a “fintech nation” by piggybacking on the country’s digital public infrastructure (DPI).