P2P lending platform PaisaDukan raises second round of seed funding

Mumbai-based fintech firm BigWin Infotech Pvt. Ltd, which owns yet-to-be-launched peer-to-peer lending marketplace PaisaDukan.com, has raised $225,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) from a group of undisclosed angel investors, a company statement said.

This is the firm’s second funding round. It had raised $650,000 in April this year.

PaisaDukan will use the funds to hire talent and expand its technology workforce, Rajiv Ranjan, founder and managing director of the venture, said.

The company applied for an NBFC-P2P licence with the Reserve Bank of India in December 2017 and is awaiting approval. Once it received a certificate of registration from the RBI, the company will go live and also launch its mobile app, founder Ranjan said in the statement.

Incorporated in November 2017, PaisaDukan will service loans on behalf of matched borrowers and investors. It will also provide legal and recovery support, principal protection, and evaluation of credit risk by a proprietary algorithm.

Deals in the space

The most recent company in the lending space to have raised funds is Rubique, a Mumbai-based online marketplace for financial products. In April, it raised an undisclosed sum in a 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.

In the same month, Mintifi, Loanzen, and Namaste Credit raised funds.

In March, online microlending platform Cash Suvidha and online loan matchmaker i2iFunding secured capital.

In December 2017, P2P lending platform Faircent raised Rs 25 crore ($4 million) in a Series B round of funding led by new investor Incofin Investment Management, a Belgium-based impact investor. Other new and existing investors also participated in the round.

In March, a media report stated that P2P lending startups such as Faircent, IndiamoneyMart, PaisaDukaan and OMLP2P were considering to use blockchain to facilitate sharing of information as a risk-mitigation strategy and to identify fraudulent loan applications. They had applied for an NBFC P2P licence from the RBI.