P2P Lending Platform LenDenClub Raises $10 Mn To Scale Up Business

Peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup LenDenClub has raised $10 Mn in a Series A round from a consortium of investors including Tuscan Ventures, Kunal Shah (founder, CRED) and Alok Bansal (cofounder, Policybazaar).

Valued at over $51 Mn with the latest round of funding, LenDenClub now aims to scale up substantially, eyeing a 5X growth in disbursals in the next 18 months, said a company statement. 

Other investors in the consortium include Ohm Stock Brokers, Artha Venture Fund, Ramakant Sharma (cofounder, Livspace), Hardik Pandya (Indian Cricketer), Krishna Bhupal (cofounder of Promaxo and Board member of GVK Power & Infra).

In the current financial year, the company has disbursed loans worth over INR 1200 Cr. It plans to use the fresh capital in aggressive expansion, taking its loan book growth to $1 Bn and upscaling the user base to 10 Mn from the current 2.5 Mn by FY 2022-23.

The Mumbai-based startup is eyeing to offer a host of financial services transitioning its business into a digital banking model.

The company aims to invest heavily in innovating and upgrading its proprietary tech-stack platform to aid and upkeep the growth in its customer base along with supporting all kinds of banking operations conducted on its platform. 

“Additionally, the company aims to enhance its leadership strength and is eyeing strategic C-suite appointments in pursuit of its expansion goals, besides increasing the operational team size by the end of the next fiscal,” it said.

It is targeting fresh recruits for the role of tech, product, marketing, and customer service who will aid its growth plans of upscaling its presence across the country.

The platform currently has over 2.5 Mn borrowers and 1 Mn investors and has registered loan disbursements worth more than Rs 2,000 Cr, of which disbursals worth INR 1,200 Cr were achieved in the first six months of FY22.

Founded in 2016 by Bhavin Patel and Dipesh Karki, LenDenClub leverages technology to bring borrowers and investors on the same platform, providing instant loans to borrowers and offering new-age investment options to investors across the country. 

Commenting on the fundraise, Bhavin Patel, cofounder & CEO, LenDenClub, said, “The aim is to accelerate growth while maintaining profitability on operations.”

In August 2019, LenDenClub had raised $1.5 Mn as part of its Pre-series A round co-led by micro VC fund Artha Venture Fund-I, Transworld Group and Shuchi Kothari of the DSP Group. 

It competes with i2iFunding, CapZest, Monexo, LoanBaba and IndiaMoneyMart in the P2P lending space.

Noida-based i2iFunding had raised an undisclosed amount from existing investor SucSEED Venture Partners in June 2019, taking its total funding to $1.1 Mn. Mumbai-based Capzest has a total funding of $510,000. Monexo also has raised a total funding of $500,000.

The fintech space has witnessed giant strides in the past few years, more so with the mass digital adoption amid the pandemic.

The growth in the fintech ecosystem can also be gauged from the fact that India witnessed its largest initial public offering (IPO) from Paytm, a pioneer in the fintech space in the country. Last month, the NCR based digital payments giant went public with its INR 18,000 Cr offer. 

Other fintech players including insurtech unicorn Policybazaar and Fino Payments Bank recently listed on the stock exchanges.