California-based trade finance firm Drip Capital Inc. on Wednesday said it has raised $25 million (Rs 172 crore) in its Series B round of funding led by existing investor Accel, which is a global venture capital firm.
The following also took part in the round, Drip Capital said in a statement: New investors Trusted Insight and GC1 Ventures and other existing investors Wing VC, Sequoia Capital India and Y Combinator.
The company will use the fresh capital to expand its global presence. It expects to replicate the model created and used in India in other geographies, Drip Capital said.
Drip Capital was founded by Pushkar Mukewar and Neil Kothari in 2015. The company, which had started by working with exporters in India, provides working capital loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that are engaged in cross-border trade.
Drip Capital said it has funded $500 million of trade and served over 400 exporters and 500 importers across more than 60 countries so far. It has expanded to over 120 employees across six offices -- Palo Alto, Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru, Mexico City and Dubai.
Drip Capital aims to add new offerings to provide working capital for importers.
"SME exporters in emerging markets account for over $2 trillion of global trade flows. Due to inefficient local financial systems, half of the small businesses get turned down by banks for the capital they need, many of which are creditworthy," said Arun Mathew, a partner at Accel. "Drip Capital’s technology and proprietary underwriting enable it to identify these creditworthy SMEs and provide them with the working capital they need to grow," he added.
Drip Capital had raised $15 million in a Series A funding round from Accel, Sequoia India, Wing VC and others in June last year. It had previously raised $5 million in seed funding from Y Combinator, Accel, and others.
The company said it has raised $45 million in venture funding and $55 million in debt capital so far.
