Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund, the India-focused investment vehicle of the US based e-commerce giant, has doubled up on its earlier bet on digital consumer fintech platform axio with a fresh investment of $20 million (about Rs 168 crore) in equity funding.
The company plans to use the funds to support further growth, including scaling up of the lending operations, expanding use cases of checkout finance, and offering more credit products to customers over their lifecycles.
axio, which is a Reserve Bank of India-registered non-banking finance company, provides personal loans, pay-later and money management facilities. Founded in 2013 by Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, the company offers loans in partnership with leading banks and NBFCs. More than 60% of its customers reside in non-metros.
The company claimed that it has experienced rapid growth in recent years, reaching nearly 10 million credit customers and $1 billion of annualised disbursals. From FY22 to FY24, axio reported a 2.5x increase in customers, a 3.5x rise in disbursals, and a 5x growth in assets under management. It has maintained a non-performing assets ratio (NPA) of 2-3%, axio said in a release.
Prior to this round of investment, the company had raised $137 million in equity and $671 million in debt. In 2021, the company raised $50 million in equity funding led by Lightrock India with participation from other existing and new investors. It has previously raised funding from investors like Peak XV (formerly Sequoia India), Elevation Capital (formerly SAIF Partners), Ribbit Capital, and Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund.
The company more than doubled its revenue from operations to Rs 204.5 crore in the financial year through March 2023 against Rs 98.7 crore year-on-year. However, its net loss also increased to Rs 138 crore in FY23 from Rs 128 crore in FY22. The company is yet to report its financials with the Registrar of Companies.
axio was previously known as Capital Float. The company formed axio by merging Capital Float and its acquired subsidiaries Walnut (erstwhile Thumbworks Technologies Pvt. Ltd) and Walnut 369.