SUMMARY
MUFG Bank invested in Lentra through its Ganesha investment fund for Indian startups
The deal marks the first joint investment by the bank and its corporate venture capital MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP)
Last year, the SaaS platform raised $60 Mn from its existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital, with participation from Citi Ventures
Digital cloud lending platform Lentra on Wednesday (June 7) announced that it raised $27 Mn (approximately INR 223 Cr) as part of its extended Series B funding round, which was led by MUFG Bank and Dharana Capital.
MUFG Bank invested in Lentra through its Ganesha investment fund for Indian startups. In a statement, Lentra said the deal marks the first joint investment by the bank and its corporate venture capital MUFG Innovation Partners (MUIP). With this collaboration, both entities will support the startup to further explore synergies within the group.
“This partnership affirms our commitment to be at the forefront of supporting digital innovation in India and its expansion to other geographies,” said Shashank Joshi, deputy CEO of MUFG India.
In November 2022, the SaaS platform raised $60 Mn in a Series B funding round from its existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital, with participation from Citi Ventures.
The fintech SaaS platform had then said that it was planning to use the fresh funds to foray into international markets, including the US and Asia.
Reiterating the startup’s expansion goals, D Venkatesh, the founder and CEO of Lentra, said the startup had been scaling at a fast pace and the extended round was a strategic step towards fueling its ambition of empowering lenders globally.
Founded in 2018 by Venkatesh and Ankur Handa, Lentra’s SaaS fintech platform offers digital lending solutions to banks. It offers a cloud-native full-stack platform that allows banks across the lending life cycle, including loan origination, fraud check, cross-verifying credit scores, and more.
Lentra claimed that it currently services over 60 financial institutions and has processed more than $27 Bn worth of loan applications on its platform so far.
Lentra has extended its presence in Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia, and the US by setting up subsidiaries. In a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, its loan management system, 1LMS, was previewed in the Indian markets at an event in May.
“The Lentra team has scaled the business in a highly capital-efficient manner and is well positioned to benefit from the tailwinds of digitisation across markets,” said Vamsi Duvvuri, the founder and managing partner of Dharana Capital.
Lentra announced its Series B funding last year after HDFC Bank trimmed about 3.21% of its stake in the startup.
In June last year, Lentra acquired a Chennai-based AI startup, TheDataTeam, for an undisclosed amount.
Despite ever-growing regulatory challenges, India’s digital lending space seems to be heading towards a bright future.
As per an Inc42 report, lending tech is emerging as one of the most lucrative markets in India’s fintech space. Pegged at $270 Bn in 2022, the lending tech market is expected to reach a size of $1.3 Tn by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 22% between 2022 and 2030.
