CDC leads $21 mn funding round for online SME lender Indifi

Indifi, the Gurugram-based online lender for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), has raised $21.05 million (Rs 145 crore at the current exchange rate) in a fresh round of funding from existing investors.

The round was led by the UK government’s development finance institution CDC Group, which contributed $14.5 million (Rs 100 crore), according to the company’s recent filings with the ministry of corporate affairs. 

While Accel India invested $3.22 million (Rs 22.22 crore), the rest came from impact investor firm Omidyar Network, Ontario-based Fair Finance Fund and private equity firm Elevar Equity, the filings showed.

The company raised this sum at an estimated valuation of $55 million-$60 million (Rs 378.68 crore - Rs 413.10 crore at the current exchange rate), according to estimates by TechCircle. 

It could not be ascertained whether this was part of a larger round. Alok Mittal, co-founder and CEO of the venture, declined to comment on the e-queries sent by TechCircle seeking more information on the latest infusion.

The company last raised funding in 2016 when Omidyar Network led a $10 million (Rs 66.5 crore then) Series B round. Existing investors Accel Partners and Elevar Equity had also participated in the round.

In August last year, the firm appointed banking veteran Rana Vikram Anand as president to strengthen its leadership team. Earlier this year, it roped in former ICICI Bank veteran Maninder Juneja as a strategic adviser.

Indifi

Founded in 2015 by Mittal, Siddharth Mahanot, and Sundeep Sahi, Indifi provides business loans with a maximum ticket size of Rs 50 lakh.

It caters to more than 12 sectors including retail, ecommerce, travel and hospitality, according to information available on its website. The company’s financial products include term loans, line of credit, invoice discounting and merchant cash advance.

The company recently announced a tie-up with Eko India Financial Services to facilitate a line of credit for customers of the money transfer firm.

Recent deals in fintech space

• July 2019: Mumbai-based business-to-business (B2B) payments company PayMate raised an undisclosed amount of Series D funding from Visa, Recruit Strategic Partners and Brand Capital.
• July 2019 : Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal made debt investments 
• in digital lending startup Kissht ($7.2 million)  and microlender Chaitanya India Fin Credit ($3.6 million)
• July 2019: Palo Alto- and Mumbai-based financial technology solutions provider Drip Capital raised $25 million (Rs 172.4 crore when reported ) in Series B round of funding, led by Accel Partners.