FlexiLoans Raises INR 150 Cr In Debt And Equity Financing From Investors

Mumbai-based digital SME lending platform FlexiLoans has raised INR 150 Cr from multiple investors through a mix of debt and equity financing. The round was led by Falguni and Sanjay Nayar Office.

With the fresh infusion, the lending platform plans to increase its micro SME lending and will also come up with new lending products and enter into alliances. The fundraise will also be used to ramp up its supply chain and co-lending verticals.

In 2017, the lending platform has raised an institutional debt funding of about INR 45 Cr from Financial Institution(s). In 2016, FlexiLoans had raised INR 500 Cr in a mix of both equity and debt.

Founded by four ISB classmates Deepak Jain, Abhishek Kothari, Ritesh Jain and Manish Lunia in 2016, FlexiLoans is an online lending platform to meet the financial requirements of SMEs that are unable to avail loans from banks due to the lack of any credit history. 

The company claims to disburse loans to more than 30,000 unsecured loans worth INR 800 Cr across more than 1400 cities.

“With this strong commitment by existing investors and industry veterans, FlexiLoans.com is now poised to enter the next phase of its growth journey that we have clearly crafted on the lines of Profitability, Growth and Risk Control. We chose to accept this bid over other term sheets we had from a few institutional investors, given the long-term nature of this capital,” said Deepak Jain, cofounder of FlexiLoans.com.  

Other startups working in the lending segment include Faircent.com, LoanCircle, Capzest, Capital Float, Neogrowth, and Lendingkart.

Lending has been an attractive area for investors in the last four years. This could also be seen in terms of lending share in total investments and deal counts. In H1 2020, lending despite being down to 5-10% during the lockdown period remained the most attractive fintech area for investments.

According to an RBI report, the total addressable credit demand by the country’s medium and small enterprises is pegged at $490 Bn and the overall supply from formal sources is at $192 Bn.

As per Inc42 Plus estimates, the credit demand in India is projected to be worth $1.41 Tn by 2022. The estimated growth rate in credit demand is 3.73% between FY17 and FY22.

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