Capillary Technologies, Simplilearn get venture debt from InnoVen

Venture debt firm InnoVen Capital India Pvt. Ltd said on Wednesday it has agreed to provide loans of $6 million (around Rs 40 crore) to Capillary Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Simplilearn Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

"Our ability to provide loans across geographies enables clients like Capillary and Simplilearn to rationalise costs while enjoying more flexibility in their funding options," said Ajay Hattangdi, group COO and CEO India, InnoVen Capital.

InnoVen is a speciality finance company that offers venture debt, a type of growth capital loan provided to venture capital-backed startups. It was earlier known as SVB India Finance Pvt Ltd. It was acquired by Singapore state investment firm Temasek in January 2015 and renamed as InnoVen in April.

In March 2016, the firm had agreed to provide a total of $5 million in loans to two startups in Southeast Asia. InnoVen has previously backed firms such as Snapdeal, FreeCharge, Myntra, Practo, Portea, Byju's, Faasos and Manthan systems.

Capillary Technologies was set up in August 2008 by IIT Kharagpur alumni Aneesh Reddy, Krishna Mehra and Ajay Modani. It offers cloud-based software solutions that help retailers engage with customers through mobile, social and in-store channels. The firm is backed by Sequoia Capital, Norwest Venture Partners and Warburg Pincus.

Reddy said Capillary plans to launch omni-channel innovations for Asian retail market and that it is doubling its size every year YoY with a strong focus on profitability.

Simplilearn.com is an online education and training platform for professional certification courses. The startup was founded by Krishna Kumar, a graduate in electronics and communication engineering from the National Institute of Technology, Karnataka.

Last year, it had secured $15 million in a Series C round of funding led by early-stage investor Mayfield, with participation from existing investors Kalaari Capital and Helion Venture Partners.

Venture debt is an important tool of funding for companies as it rarely involves stake dilution by the promoters. It also provides the companies more time to grow. The segment is growing in India even as venture capital activity is seeing a slowdown. Apart from Mumbai-based InnoVen, Delhi's Trifecta Capital Advisors, Bengaluru-based Capital Float, IFMR Capital of Chennai and Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart are among a growing number of companies that offer debt funding to early-stage companies.

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