Online lending startup Capital Float raises $2.5 mn from IFMR Capital

Online lending platform Capital Float, operated by Bangalore-based Zen Lefin Pvt Ltd, has raised Rs 17 crore ($2.5 million) from Chennai-based non-banking financial company IFMR Capital Finance and its alternative investment fund by allotting non-convertible debentures (NCDs), a company spokesperson said.

Capital Float, founded in 2013 by Stanford University alumni Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, lends to small businesses via a tech-led loan-origination and credit-underwriting platform. Its offerings include e-commerce seller financing, term loans, receivables financing and commercial vehicle loans.

The latest fund-raise takes the total capital raised by the company this fiscal through the NCD route to Rs 60 crore ($ 9 million), said a report in The Economic Times, which was first to report the development.

"The NCD raise is for strengthening our lending books. This will enable us to fulfil the working capital requirements of SMEs, for both repeat borrowers from our existing customer base and for new customer acquisition," Rishyasringa told the paper. He added that the NCD raise will help the company achieve better assets and liability management.

In May last year, the company had secured $25 million (Rs 170 crore) in Series B funding led by Creation Investments Capital Management. It also counts SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Aspada as its investors.

Capital Float had secured $13 million (Rs 81 crore then) in Series A funding from Sequoia Capital in February 2015. Existing investors SAIF Partners and Aspada had also participated.

IFMR Capital had closed the second round of institutional funding from Eight Roads Ventures, the investment arm of Fidelity International Ltd, in November last year.

In May last year, it secured $1.8 million (Rs 12.5 crore then) in a fresh round of funding from French development financial institution Proparco SA.

Startups operating in the space, such as Indifi, ZipLoan, LendingKart and LoanTap, have witnessed investor interest lately.

Indifi, floated by angel investor and venture capital firm Canaan Partners' former India chief Alok Mittal, had raised $10 million (Rs 66.5 crore) in Series B funding led by Omidyar Network in December last year. LoanTap had secured $3 million (Rs 20 crore) from Mumbai-based individual investors, Abhishek Pandey and Jaysukh Sapra, in August 2016.