Metafin Bags $10 Mn To Finance Clean Energy Adoption

SUMMARY

The funding round was led by Vertex Ventures, and saw participation from Northern Arc, AU Small Finance Bank, Prime Venture Partners and Varanium Capital

The fresh capital will primarily be poured into growing the NBFC’s business, build its tech stack and bolster the senior leadership team

Founded in 2018, Metafin offers financing solutions to rural customers for installation of rooftop solar panels, EVs, solar pumps, among others

Cleantech-focussed non-banking finance company Metafin has raised $10 Mn (around INR 85 Cr) in its Series A round led by Temasek’s subsidiary, Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia and India.

The round also saw participation from venture debt firm Northern Arc, AU Small Finance Bank and existing investors such as Prime Venture Partners and Varanium Capital.

Metafin cofounder and director Aditya Shah told Inc42 that the fresh proceeds will primarily be poured into growing the NBFC’s business and achieving 10,000 solar installations in rural parts of the country. A part of the capital will also be deployed to build its tech stack and bolstering the senior leadership team.

Founded in 2018 by Shah and Sandeep Chopra, Metafin operates an NBFC that offers financing solutions to rural customers for installation of clean energy products such as rooftop solar panels, electric vehicles, solar pumps, among others.

The startup claims to have so far onboarded nearly 600 solar panel installers and enabled 2,600 such solar projects.

As part of its expansion plans, Metafin plans to bolster its footprint to six to seven new states, including Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Madhya Pradesh, by the end of 2025.

Metafin currently has about 105 employees in its team.

The funding comes more than a year after the Delhi NCR-based startup raised $5 Mn in its pre-Series A round from Prime Venture Partners and Varanium Capital in February last year.

The development comes at a time when NBFCs are witnessing healthy investor interest on the back of their differentiated offerings and tech stack. Earlier this month, used car marketplace unicorn Spinny was said to have raised $131 Mn in a mix of primary and secondary funding to bolster its NBFC offerings.

Last month, fintech juggernaut Jio Financial Services (JFS) infused INR 1,000.24 Cr in its NBFC arm Jio Finance Limited (JFL) to further expand its offerings.

Notably, investor interest in lending players is not without reason. As per Inc42 data, India’s lending tech ecosystem is projected to become a $1.3 Tn market opportunity by 2030.