SAIF Partners, others back online SME lending marketplace Cashflo

Mumbai-based Cashflo, which offers lending services for small & medium enterprises (SMEs), has raised $3.3 million in a Series A round from a clutch of investors including early-stage investing firm SAIF Partners. 

Angel investors like Ashish Iyer, former senior partner at Boston Consulting Group (BCG), and Arpan Sheth, partner-cum-managing director, Bain & Co, also participated in the funding round, the two-year-old company said in a media statement. 

Cashflo will use the funds to expand the business and enhance its platform besides building its team, which it hopes to expand to 75 employees within 24 months.

The company, which is currently present in the top seven Indian metros, is also looking to expand operations to more than 30 cities. 

Valor Innovations, which operates the venture, was founded in September 2017 by former BCG executives Ankur Bhageria and Dushyant Agarwal. 

Cashflo helps sellers undertake invoice discounting through their exchange and enable them to receive early payments. The company’s invoice discounting marketplace has tie-ups with ICICI Bank, IDFC First Bank, Yes Bank and others. 

The company also operates a subsidiary Hitech Corporate Services, an RBI registered non banking financial company. It claims to have raised more than Rs 10,000 crore till date, according to data available on the company website.

Recent deals in fintech

Bengaluru-based artificial intelligence (AI)-driven fintech startup Recko raised an undisclosed amount in a follow-on seed funding round. 

DreamPlug Technologies, the Mumbai-based fintech startup that runs rewards-based credit card payments app Cred, raised $101 million in a funding round led by existing investor Ribbit Capital and Cayman Islands-based Gemini Investments.

Digital payments startup BharatPe raised $50 million in Series B round of funding, led by fintech investor Ribbit Capital and London-based hedge fund Steadview Capital.