Bestdealfinance raises $3M from Kalaari, others

Bestdealfinance.com, an online marketplace that provides loan fulfillment services for individuals and SME's, has secured $3 million (Rs 20 crore) in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital.

YourNest Angel Fund, Globevestor and Dexter Angel Circle also put money in this round, as per a press statement.

Bestdealfinance.com Pvt Ltd, which runs Bestdealfinance.com, will use the funds raised to strengthen technology infrastructure, build a stronger team and enhance its customer support organisation.

"Our business model is disbursement focused. In current market scenario, the customer is confused due to multiple touch points and hassled by a lengthy loan approval and disbursement process. We make the entire journey simple with our matchmaking algorithm helping customers to choose the best deal for their requirements and our integration with bank systems enabling a fast and hassle free loan process," said Manavjeet Singh, co-founder of Bestdealfinance.

"For customer, it is the best deal at quickest possible time and for lenders, it is an apt customer profile at lowest cost of acquisition," Singh added.

The startup, which was founded by Singh and Sandeep Nambiar in February 2015, claims to have disbursed loans worth over Rs 150 crore. It has empanelled over 1,000 business associates and has a customer base of over 9,400 registered users.

Before starting Bestdealfinance, Singh was senior president & head of retail banking at YES Bank. Prior to that, he worked with Reliance Consumer Finance, HDFC Bank, SBI Mutual Fund, City Bank and others. Nambiar held different technical positions at Nomura Securities and Wipro before beginning his entrepreneurial career.

Bestdealfinance.com claims to have partnerships with over 40 financial institutions. Currently present across Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata and Pune, the company is looking to expand its footprint to Bangalore, Chennai and Hyderabad.

"The consumer and small business loan process remains very inefficient in India. While online loan comparison sites are helpful, they fail to address the core inefficiency around the loan fulfillment - the complexity and time taken to assess, approve, and disburse the loan. Bestdealfinance.com has a differentiated, technology-centric solution to this problem that adds value to both banks and consumers alike," said Bala Srinivasa, partner at Kalaari Capital.

Dexter Capital Advisors, a boutique investment banking advisory firm, was the exclusive advisor to this transaction. Dexter Angel Circle is a group of angel investors built around Dexter Capital's partner and team, having interest in investing in early stage businesses.

Online platforms that assist in lending have been on investors' radar this year.

Bangalore-headquartered Zen Lefin Pvt Ltd, the company behind Capital Float, an online platform that provides working capital finance to SMEs in India, had secured $13 million (Rs 81 crore) in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital with participation of existing investors SAIF Partners and Aspada.

In July, Lendingkart Technologies Pvt Ltd. which owns and operates online financing portal for entrepreneurs and small businesses Lendingkart.com, has raised $10 million (Rs 63.5 crore) in Series A round co-led by Saama Capital and Mayfield.

Last month, Kalaari participated in a funding round at YourStory, whose content and events compete with some offerings from Techcircle.in and VCC Events, which are both part of the 10-year-old VCCircle Network. The parent of VCCircle Network—whose business lines include subscription data products, events, training programmes and a subscription-led news website and app focused on the startup ecosystem as well as business at large in India—was acquired by News Corp in March.