Sachin Bansal invests Rs75 cr debt in Chaitanya India Finance, Kissht

Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal has increased his exposure to the financial service segment with two fresh debt funding bets totalling Rs 75 crore ($10.8 million at the current exchange rate)

Bansal has invested Rs 25 crore ($3.6 million at the current exchange rate) in Bengaluru-based microlender Chaitanya India Fin Credit, according to filings with the ministry of corporate affairs (MCA).

Chaitanya was founded as a non-government organisation in 2007 in Karnataka but later transformed into a non-banking finance company-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI) in 2009. 

It currently operates in five states and serves over 3.5 lakh clients. It offers two-wheeler, housing, small business and education loans to rural, low-income families.

Bansal has also invested Rs 50 crore ($7.2 million at the current exchange rate) in digital lending startup Kissht, The Economic Times reported. The investment was made through his personal investment vehicle BAC Acquisitions.

Founded by Krishnan Vishwanathan in 2015, Kissht provides collateral-free loans for products like mobiles, laptops, jewellery, furniture and electronic gadgets. 

Customers can repay through equated monthly instalments (EMIs) using the Kissht EMI card. The startup lends through a captive NBFC.

OnEMI Technology Solutions, which runs Kissht, had raised $30 million (Rs 195 crore then) in its Series C funding in September last year from investors including Vertex Ventures Southeast Asia & India, Sistema Asia Fund, Fosun RZ Capital, Ventureast and Endiya Partners. 

The Mumbai-based startup had raised $10 million (Rs 67 crore then) from investors led by China's Fosun International in November 2017. 

In June 2017, the startup had secured $2 million (around Rs 13 crore then) from Endiya and Ventureast.

Bansal had recently committed Rs 200 crore ($28.7 million then) in debt capital to Northern Arc Capital. 

Bansal is also said to have invested Rs 250 crore each via debt in Altico Capital India and IndoStar Capital Finance, and Rs 200 crore as debt in Piramal Enterprises, Mint reported. 

In April, online news platform Entrackr reported that Bansal had invested in digital microlending platform KrazyBee.