ah! Ventures bets on fintech platform LoanAdda

Aadventure Infotech, which owns and operates fintech platform LoanAdda, has raised capital from Mumbai-based ah! Ventures.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed. 

Investment firm PRAAK Investments and financial services company Ratnaafin Group also participated in the round, according to a statement.

The Noida headquartered company said it will use the fresh capital to develop its technology stack and data science solutions to expand its online acceptance. It will also build its product capabilities by hiring fresh talent, subsequently scaling up lending volumes, the statement added.

Founded in 2015 by INSEAD and the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade alumnus Anshuman Mishra, LoanAdda functions as a loan aggregator. It offers small-ticket loans via its mobile app and website. 

The company also has its own proprietary underwriting software LoanSwift, a machine learning-based platform that is used for credit underwriting and to analyse diverse data points to build a customer's risk profile. 

“During lockdown and post-Covid 19 situations, when loans will have to be remotely assessed, disbursed and collected, our pan-India distribution platform in over 550 towns and cities has (helped)... lower segments access funds online,” Mishra said.

Read: Coronavirus India LIVE updates

LoanAdda competes with companies such as Deal4loans, BankBazaar and IndiaLends in the segment.

“Unsecured lending will have enhanced potential, especially in the immediate future and medium term. This is attributed to challenges posed by the ongoing pandemic and its effect on liquidity,” Amit Kumar, partner at ah! Ventures, said.

ah! Ventures, a startup-focused growth catalyst that brings together businesses and investors, was established in 2010 by Harshad Lahoti and Abhijeet Kumar. It has previously made investments through its arms such as ah! Seeders, ah! Angels and ah! VCs. 

The past few weeks saw multiple deals in the fintech space.

On Tuesday, Mumbai-based Mintoak Innovations, which owns an eponymous digital payments platform, secured $2 million in a bridge funding round, dubbed a ‘pre-Series A’ round, led by Pravega Ventures and undisclosed returning investors.

Last month, Bengaluru headquartered Shuhari Tech Ventures, which owns and operates online small loans platform NIRA, raised $2.1 million in a bridge round, dubbed a ‘pre-Series A’ round, from undisclosed new and returning angel investors based out of Europe and India. 

Bengaluru headquartered AsknBid Innovation Factory India, which owns a fintech platform that provides algorithmic trading solutions, raised capital from Mumbai Angels Network and other angel investors.