Lending startup Flexiloans has raised Rs 290 crore ($34.5 million) in a Series C round from global impact investors Accion and Nuveen, along with Nandan Nilekani’s venture capital firm Fundamentum, a top executive told VCCircle. Dane private equity firm Maj Invest, an existing backer, also participated.
The equity capital will allow Flexiloans to scale its operations, allowing it to secure more debt to fuel its day to day operations, said co-founder Deepak Jain.
FlexiLoans did not disclose its latest valuation at which the funds were raised.
The Mumbai-based company provides loans to the country’s micro, medium and small enterprises and small businesses using alternative data sources from e-commerce and payment platforms for risk assessment. It manages about Rs 2,000 crore in assets under management (AUM) currently.
“We have been profitable. As far as internal investments in technology, people and marketing are concerned, we have enough cash flow of our own,” said Jain. “This will allow us to take our AUM to Rs 3,500-4,000 crore.”
The latest round comes more than two years after Flexiloans’ Series B funding. In June 2022, it raised $30 million of equity in Series B round and another $60 million from UK-based venture capitalist Fasanara Capital, Maj Invest and Caravel Group chairman Harry Banga’s family office.
In October, FlexiLoans raised $20.2 million in funding through a mix of equity and debt from investors including the family office of Falguni Nayar and husband Sanjay Nayar.
Jain, previously an investment banker at Axis Capital, set up Flexiloans in 2016 along with three other Indian School of Business alumni—Manish Lunia, a former executive at Aditya Birla Group's M&A unit; Ritesh Jain, former finance chief of Housing.com and Abhishek Kothari, data science and analytics professional.
Since inception, Flexiloans has disbursed loans worth over Rs 7,000 crore, with about 70% of its business coming from tier-II and III cities. The company disburses loans through its own books and integrations with over 20 lenders via its in-house tech platform.
In the financial year 2024, its revenue 2.4x to nearly Rs 263 crore, compared to about Rs 109 crore in the year before. “Our revenue will keep growing between 70-80% for next couple of years, as there is a lot of potential in cross-selling products,” Jain said.
The deal is Fundamentum’s first investment in the fintech space. “FlexiLoans has a strong record of execution, a high-quality team and a razor-sharp focus on profitable growth across their verticals,” Mayank Kachhwaha, principal, Fundamentum, said in a statement, as he joins Flexiloans' board.
