OnEMi Technology Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which runs lending startup Kissht, has raised $10 million (Rs 67 crore) led by China's Fosun International, a report in a financial daily stated.
The round also saw participation from the fin-tech startup's existing investors venture capital firm Endiya Partners and early-stage investor Ventureast, The Economic Times reported, citing two unnamed people in the know.
The Mumbai-based fin-tech startup will use the funds to expand its presence in India, fortify its data science capabiities and build its engineering and analytics teams, the ET report added.
Kissht's founder Krishnan Vishwanathan and Fosun International did not respond to email queries and phone calls from VCCircle, seeking confirmation.
In June this year, the startup raised $2 million (around Rs 13 crore) from Endiya and Ventureast.
According to ET, the investment in Kissht marks Fosun International's fourth bet in the country. In October this year, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group completed a deal to acquire 74% stake in Hyderabad-based drug-maker Gland Pharma.
In May, Fosun had invested $30 million (Rs 200 crore) in logistics startup Delhivery Pvt. Ltd. In July, a media report stated that Fosun, along with Chinese e-tailer Alibaba, Singapore's sovereign wealth fund Temasek, and online marketplace Paytm Mall, were also in talks to invest in Bengaluru-based online grocer Big Basket.
Founded in 2015 by Vishwanathan, Kissht provides collateral-free loans for products such as mobiles, laptops, jewellery, furniture and electronic gadgets. Customers can repay through equated monthly instalments (EMIs), using the Kissht EMI card. The startup currently lends through a captive non-banking financial company (NBFC).
Investor interest in the fin-tech space in India has been hotting up. A VCCircle analysis in May showed that since the beginning of the year, at least 25 fin-tech startups have raised venture funding. The inflows have been well-distributed across the broader fin-tech space, including digital wallets, online lending firms, and payment gateway startups.
The month of June this year saw a number of fin-tech startups secure funds such as personal finance startup Fincash.com, mobile credit services startup MoneyTap, online peer-to-peer lending platform LoanMeet, and mobile payments startup Ftcash.
In July, financial services startup Upwardly secured seed funding from a clutch of banking investors.
In August, digital lending platform Capital Float raised $45 million (Rs 293 crore) in its Series C round of funding led by Silicon Valley-based fintech-focussed venture capital firm Ribbit Capital. Existing investors SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments also participated in the round.
In October, Gurgaon-based fintech startup Chqbook raised funding from YouWeCan Ventures-backed Startup Buddy and a clutch of individual investors.