Online lending startup Rubique gets fresh capital, in talks for more

Rubique, a Mumbai-based online marketplace for financial products, has raised an undisclosed amount in a funding round led by Japan's Recruit Group and Russian venture capital firm Emery Capital.

Asset management firm Blacksoil and existing investor Kalaari Capital also participated in the round.

Rubique said in a statement that it will use the fresh capital to strengthen its technological and analytics capabilities. It also plans to expand its portfolio of credit products to boost its reach.

The company said it has been unit economics positive at the transactional level and will be aiming to break even next year.

“Apart from this round, we are also in the final stages of closing another tranche of funding, to be led by couple of marquee investors,” said Rubique co-founder and chief executive officer Manav Jeet.

Jeet had told VCCircle last September that Rubique was in advanced talks with Chinese and Emirati venture capital firms besides existing investors to raise $20 million (around Rs 128 crore) in its Series B round of funding.

Rubique is a credit facilitator for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and individuals. In the SME segment, it focuses on loans for commercial vehicles and construction equipment. The retail segment includes home loans, personal loans and two-wheeler loans, among others. The company ventured into general insurance.

Run by Rubique Pvt. Ltd, the startup was founded by Jeet in February 2015.

Rubique claims to have partnered with over 90 financial institutions for over 260 products and facilitated loan disbursement worth Rs. 2,670 crore, and generated revenue worth Rs. 47 crore.

In June last year, Rubique had raised $3 million (Rs 19.4 crore) in a bridge round from existing investor Kalaari Capital and Udayan Goyal, managing partner at Apis Partners.

In April 2016, Rubique had secured $3 million in Series A funding led by Kalaari Capital. YourNest Angel Fund, Globevestor and Dexter Angel Circle had also put in money.

Investors
Headquartered in Tokyo, Recruit Group creates and provides platforms that connect companies and consumers. It offers a range of services in areas including human resources, education, housing and real estate, bridal, travel, automobiles, dining and beauty. The group has more than 45,000 employees and operates in more than 60 countries.

Its holding company Recruit Holdings Co had earlier this year invested in WizRocket Technologies Pvt Ltd, which operates mobile app analytics startup CleverTap.

Emery Capital is an early and growth-stage venture capital firm which typically invests between $500,000 and $1.5 million. It primarily focus on four sectors - fintech, 3D (including augmented reality and virtual realty), Internet of Things (IoT) and digital marketing.

Deals in the space
A host of fintech startups have raised funding over the past few weeks.

Last week, Noida-based fin-tech startup PayMe India, which offers loans to salaried employees, raised $2 million (Rs 13 crore) in an angel round of funding from a bunch of Singapore-based investors.

Two days before that, Bengaluru-based digital lender Capital Float received $22 million (Rs 144 crore) in equity funding from e-commerce major Amazon India as part of a $45 million Series C round.

Earlier this month, online insurance platform Coverfox completed its $22-million (Rs 144 crore) Series C funding round, which was led by International Finance Corporation, the private-sector investment arm of the World Bank.