Omidyar Network India leads $4.8 mn Series A round in online lending platform Shubh Loans

Bangalore-based Datasigns Technologies, which operates lending platform Shubh Loans, has raised $4.8 million through Series A funding round led by Mumbai-based Omidyar Network India.  

Existing investors Saama Capital, Beenext, SRI Capital and Pravega Ventures also participated in the funding round, the company said in an official statement.

Shubh Loans says it will use the funds to expand its customer sourcing platform, improve its technology, data science operations and credit scoring platform. The company also plans to add more features, grow its sales team and expand distribution to nearly 40 cities by the end of the year.

“Shubh Loans’ partnership with Omidyar Network India speaks of the shared focus that both organizations have towards emerging technology and inclusiveness. The infusion of funding will expand our footprint in India and improve customer experience by augmenting data science capabilities,” said Monish Anand, chief executive officer of Shubh Loans. 

Shubh Loans claims to provide personal loans to the lower-income individuals and underserved segment. The platform has a credit scoring model to assess a borrower’s creditworthiness. It offers loans of up to Rs 5 lakh for up to a four-year tenure. 

Shubh Loans app is available in six languages ⁠— English, Hindi, Marathi, Kannada, Tamil and Telugu. 

The startup was founded by Monish Anand and Rahul Sekar in 2016. It aims to bring 10 million people under the formal credit through the Shubh Loans credit score by 2021.

Sekar is an Indian Institute of Technology  Madras alumni and a former Goldman Sachs executive, Anand has worked for over 23 years in telecom, banking and technology space. 

In August 2018, Shubh Loans raised $4.2 million from venture capital firm Saama Capital along with the three existing investors.

Other players in the lending space include Bankbazaar, OfBusiness, InCred, and LendingKart among others.

Omidyar Network India, which invests in early-stage startups, has funded companies in digital identity, education, emerging technologies, financial inclusion, governance and property rights space.

Earlier, Omidyar had infused $10 million into education technology startup WhiteHat Jr. It has also invested in Mumbai-based digital bank Yelo and technology startup RailYatri.