Fintech firm InCred raises Rs 500 cr in debt funding round to expand loan books

Mumbai headquartered non-banking financial company (NBFC) InCred Financial Services said it has raised Rs 500 crore (nearly $67 million at current exchange rates) in a debt funding round to expand its loan books. 

The consumer and micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) lender raised the capital from undisclosed public sector banks and financial institutions in the form of term loans, non-convertible debentures (NCDs) and market linked debentures, according to a statement.

InCred, which focuses on lower middle class and middle class households on the consumer side, said it will use the fresh funds to increase lending across consumer, education and MSME markets. 

The firm last raised capital in a $2.1 million debt funding round from 17 investors through market linked debentures in October 2019. In April 2019, it raised Rs 600 crore in equity capital in a Series A funding round led by Dutch Development Bank FMO. 

It has so far raised Rs 1,000 crore in equity from investors such as Moore Capital, Investcorp Bahrain, Oaks Capital, and early investors Ranjan Pai of Manipal Group and former Deutsche Bank CEO Anshu Jain.

“InCred is strengthening its funding base to support its growth vision. The recently-concluded debt issuance is an endorsement of our business model, risk and analytics philosophy, and our prudent ALM policies,” Vivek Bansal, group CFO at InCred, said in the statement. 

Founded in 2016 by former Deutsche Bank executive Bhupinder Singh, InCred has announced multiple acquisitions over the past year to consolidate its business.

In June, it bought unsecured personal loan platform Qbera from parent Ant Creditex at a valuation of $10-$15 million. In November 2019, it acquired the Dubai business of L&T Capital, a subsidiary of Larsen and Toubro Group, to mark its entry into the asset management and wealth management segment. 

InCred competes with digital lenders such as Amazon-backed Capital Float in the SME and consumer lending space, and Fullerton Financial Holdings-backed Lendingkart in the MSME lending space.