Prosus Invests $80 Mn In Mintifi, $100 Mn In Vastu Housing

Prosus invested $79.9 Mn in fintech startup Mintifi in October to acquire a 10.65% equity stake, the Dutch investor said in its consolidated financial report for the first six months period ended September 30, 2024.

With this, the investment group said that it will account for this investment in the B2B digital lending startup as an equity-accounted associate on account of its significant influence on the board of directors. 

A month prior to the investment, it was reported that Mintifi was looking to raise $100 Mn from Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP), private equity firms Bain Capital and Advent International, along with more than 20 other investors. The exact size of the funding round is not clear.

Founded in 2017 by Anup Agarwal, Ankit Mehta and Sanjoy Shome, Mintify helps small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in financing requirements. The startup last raised $110 Mn via its Series D round in March 2023. 

Besides Mintifi, the Dutch investor also invested $100 Mn for an 8.4% equity in Vastu Housing Finance in the same month. 

Founded by Sandeep Menon in 2015, Vastu Housing Finance is a non-banking financial institution (NBFC) that provides loans for housing purchase, resale of an existing property, under-construction property or ready properties.

Vastu counts the likes of Norwest Partners, 360 One Asset Management, Multiples, Creation Investments, among others, as its investors. It claims to have helped 1.6 Mn users secure loans across 15 states via its 170 branches. 

For the quarter ended September 30, the NBFC reported an over 6% decline in its standalone profit after tax to INR 68.70 Cr from INR 73.46 Cr in the year-ago quarter. Revenue from operations rose 19% to INR 277.34 Cr in the September quarter of 2024 from INR 233.43 Cr in the year-ago quarter. 

For Prosus, the investments in the Indian entities came ahead of its earliest India bets, Swiggy, going public. 

The foodtech major made its stock market debut on November 13, listing at INR 412 per share on the BSE. This was a 6% premium to its IPO price of INR 390. 

Prosus sold 109.09 Mn shares in Swiggy via the IPO, raking in approximately $500 Mn. “The internal rate of return (IRR) of our stake in Swiggy, based on the IPO price and the net proceeds of the stake we sold, was 18%,” the group said in its H1 report. 

Buoyed by the strong returns it made from the Swiggy IPO, it was reported last month that the investor has now set eyes on the IPO of its fintech company PayU’s India arm in 2025. Prosus’ chief investment officer Ervin Tu said in November that the investor is eyeing the best time for the IPO.

Besides PayU, Prosus also sees potential public listings for Meesho and BlueStone materialising in the next 18 months. It also expects Eruditus, Captain Fresh, Mintifi, Vastu and Mensa as potential IPO candidates in the future.

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