Non-banking lender and financial technology firm Aye Finance Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 125 crore (about $17 million) in debt funding, barely two weeks after a Rs 210 crore Series E fundraising round.
Gurugram-based Aye Finance said that it had raised the capital from Invest in Visions, a Germany-based social impact investor that focuses on segments including sustainable agriculture, social enterprises, and social impact lending.
“Access to adequate capital has never been more significant than in these current times of economic disruptions and we are committed to supporting these grassroots businesses through these trying times as well with our loan offerings,” Aye Finance managing director Sanjay Sharma said.
Micro, small and medium enterprises-focused Aye Finance provides working capital and business development loans. It uses statistical models and predictive analytics to determine risk profiles, even in the absence of formal credit histories or documentation.
The fresh capital takes the total debt raised by the company – set up in 2014 -- to over Rs 2,000 crore. It has also raised more than Rs 690 crore in equity funding, including the Series E round that was led by CapitalG, the Google-operated investment firm formerly known as Google Capital.
Other participants in the equity round included LGT Lightstone, Falcon Edge, A91 Partners and MAJ Invest.
According to VCCEdge, the data research arm of Mosaic Digital, Aye Finance reported net sales of Rs 209.6 crore for the 2019 financial year, with profit-after-tax figures of Rs 25 crore for the same period. The fintech-focused firm also counts among its investors institutions such as responsAbility, BlueOrchard and a leading Indian bank.
In January, the United States-based non-profit organisation Accion International sold its stake in Aye Finance to A91 Partners, the venture capital firm founded by former Sequoia Capital India executives Abhay Pandey, VT Bharadwaj, Gautam Mago and Kaushik Anand.
In December, the financier raised Rs 107 crore ($15 million) in debt funding from Swiss impact investor BlueOrchard. The impact group has been investing in the company since May 2017 and has taken a total exposure of Rs 290 crore in the lender.
