SBI Sanctions Credit Facilities Of $3.1 Mn To New Age Lending Platform Aye Finance

Gurugram-based NBFC Aye Finance has been sanctioned credit facilities to the tune of $3.1 Mn (INR 20 Cr) from the country’s largest public sector bank State Bank of India (SBI), for the purposes of on-lending. The credit facility will enable Aye Finance to further its goal of financial inclusion of millions of small businesses across the country as well as assist in the further growth of its loan book.

Sanjay Sharma, co-founder and Managing Director of Aye Finance stated, “While the MSME sector continues to be underserved by most financial institutions, we believe that the sector holds a lot of promise for growth, development, and job creation in India. And these funds from SBI will allow us to reach out to many more micro and small enterprises and provide them with the much-required line of credit for getting started and growing their businesses.”

Going forward, the NBFC is anticipating receiving further support from different banks and government institutions in its cause of financial inclusion. Currently, it claims an elaborate network of 33 branches spread across the country, employing over 450 employees. Additionally, it is targeting a loan portfolio of more than $293 Mn (INR 2,000 Cr) over the next five years.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, Aye Finance provides customer-centred financial services to micro & small businesses. Through use of technology, credit assessments and a new ‘Industry Cluster Enablement’ (ICE) model of lending, the startup helps MSMEs meet working capital and capex requirements as they look to grow their businesses. It provides line of credit for both working capital and fixed capital requirements.

Last November, it had received equity funding worth $10 Mn in a Series B round led by LGT IV,  SAIF Partners and Accion. Prior to that in December 2015, the company had raised Series A round of $3 Mn.

Aye Finance is one of the many companies that provides mortgage, hypothecation and term loan services accessible to India’s thriving and underserved MSME sector. Other startups include Chennai-based fintech startup, Veritas Finance, Lendingkart and KredX. This month, Ahmedabad-headquartered Lendingkart also raised about $4.65 Mn (INR 30 Cr) non-convertible debentures from alternative asset management firm Anicut Capital.