Lending startup CoinTribe raises $10 mn Series B round

CoinTribe, a credit-based lending marketplace for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has raised over $10 million (Rs 67 crore) in a Series B funding round led by India-centric mid-market private equity firm Sabre Partners, a company statement said.

Existing investor Puneet Dalmia, managing director of Dalmia Bharat Group, also participated in the round, the statement added.

Run by Gurugram-based CoinTribe Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the company will use the capital to enhance its proprietary online credit algorithm, develop product, and enter new markets. With the current round, the total funds that CoinTribe has raised till date stands at $15 million, the statement added.

Founded by Amit Sachdev, Rohit Lohia and Manish Chaudhari, the company offers unsecured term and working capital financing to small businesses, for which the risk assessment is done using a proprietary online lending algorithm.

CoinTribe connects banks and non-banking finance companies with borrowers, providing inputs for risk assessment, transaction fulfilment, repayment management, and borrower servicing. The firm allows those financial institutions that it has tied up with to lend on the platform. Some of its banking and NBFC partners include Axis Bank, Yes Bank, RBL Bank, DBS, IIFL, Clix Capital and SMC Capital. The company added that its technology platform is also being used by four private and foreign banks for internal purposes apart from lending on the CoinTribe platform.

“We have developed a differentiated business model with a strong focus on low capital and low risk, positive unit economics and capabilities in credit and technology. This funding will help us further strengthen and scale up our marketplace operations," said Sachdev, co-founder and chief executive of the venture.

Sabre Partners was founded by Rajiv Maliwal and has invested over $300 million in India. The firm has invested in the restructuring of Centurion Bank of Punjab, which they subsequently sold to HDFC Bank. Its other investments include HCG Hospitals, Thyrocare, Oyster & Pearl, Vyome Biosciences, Portea and DCB Bank.

Major deals in online SME lending

Last month, Bengaluru-based digital lender Capital Float raised $22 million (Rs 144 crore) in equity funding from e-commerce major Amazon India. The funding was part of its $45-million Series C investment that it announced in August last year and has so far raised over $110 million so far.

In February this year, Capital Float’s competitor Lendingkart had raised Rs 565 crore ($87 million) in a Series C round of funding led by Singapore’s Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd. Existing investors Sistema Asia Fund, Bertelsmann India Investment, Mayfield India, India Quotient, and Saama Capital had also participated in the round.