SAIF Leads $12.6 Mn Series B Round In Digital Lender ZipLoan

New Delhi-based online lending startup Ziploan has raised INR 90 Cr ($12.6 Mn) in its Series B funding round which was led by venture capital company SAIF Partners. Existing investors including Matrix Partners India, Waterbridge Ventures and Whiteboard Capital also participated in the round.

According to the startup, the new funds will be utilised for developing its business and expanding its offerings in the cities where it is already present. Currently, Ziploan services are available in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Indore, Lucknow, Dehradun and Jaipur. The funds will also be used to ramp up its tech and sales team.

Ziploan was founded in 2015 by Kshitij Puri and Shalabh Singhal. It provides collateral free short term loans to Medium and Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs). The loan amount provided by the startup ranges from INR 1 Lakh ($1,399)  to INR 5 Lakh ($6,998) for a time period of 6-24 months.

The startup, which has non banking financial company (NBFC) licence from RBI, has partnered with IDFC First Bank, IndusInd Bank, Northern Arc, MAS Finance and Caspian Finance to offer loans.

According to reports, the online lending platform had raised around INR 200 Cr ($28 Mn) in debt till date and is planning to raise another INR 250 Cr ($35 Mn) in debt in future.

In October 2017, Ziploan had raised $3 Mn (INR 21.4 Cr) Series A funding from Matrix Partners India with participation from WaterBridge Ventures, Whiteboard Capital and former Capital18 MD, Sarbvir Singh. In October 2016, it raised an undisclosed amount in funding from GrowX Ventures. Prior to that, Ziploan had also raised funding from Singh in its Angel round.

Growing Focus On Digital Lending Space In India

According to a 2018 BCG report, India’s digital lending market represents a $1 Tn opportunity in the next five years.

In context to startups, the Inc42 DataLabs’ Indian Tech Startup Funding Report 2018 shows that the fintech startups gained $1.4 Bn in funding last year, making it one of the top-funded sectors in 2018. Interestingly, over $505 Mn was raised by lending tech startups with startups like Lendingkart, Aye Finance and Incred being among the top funding grossers in the lending-tech segment. In the last five years (2014-2018), a total of $1.58 Bn has been raised by Indian lending tech startups across 138 deals.

Last month, Delhi-based Aye Finance raised $10 Mn (INR 71.32 Cr) in a debt funding round from global impact investment manager, responsAbility and Northern Arc, through the issuance of non-convertible debentures.

In August 2018, Bengaluru-based digital lending startup ZestMoney has raised $13.4 Mn (INR 95.7 Cr)  in an extended Series A round of funding led by Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi.

In December 2018, B2B payments startup Razorpay also launched Razorpay Capital, a lending marketplace offering quick settlements and collateral-free loans.

Some of the other notable startups in this segment include Lendingkart, Capital Float, Quikrupee, SMEcorner, Innoviti, and Biz2credit.