Micro-lender Fusion Microfinance Pvt. Ltd has raised Rs 80 crore (around $12 million) in a fresh round of funding led by existing investors Creation Investments, Oikocredit and GAWA Capital.
The firm said in a statement that the funding will help it ramp up its infrastructure capacity, expand its network and grow its existing employee base of 3,000.
Founded in 2010, Fusion predominantly operates in rural and semi-urban areas and offers financial services to women. The Delhi-headquartered company has a strong presence in north and central India.
The lender is looking to increase its loan book by 60% to Rs 2,400 crore in the next financial year. As of January 31, Fusion had a loan book of Rs 1,400 crore across 358 branches and 14 states.
"Demonetisation effects have almost phased out and we are looking at a promising growth phase in the coming year," said Devesh Sachdev, Fusion Microfinance's founder and chief executive officer.
"The fresh funds will help us reinforce our infrastructure including integration of latest technology to bring down overall operational costs,†he added.
Fusion Microfinance plans to hire around 1,000 employees in next financial year.
Fusion had recently raised Rs 400 crore as debt from various financial institutions and is planning to raise another Rs 400 crore as debt capital in the next few months.
In August 2016, Fusion raised Rs 162 crore ($24 million at the time) led by Creation Investments in a fourth strategic round (Series D) of funding. Others that participated in the funding included a new investor GAWA and existing investors BIO and Oikocredit.
A year before that, the company had raised Rs 53 crore (then worth $8.3 million) in a Series C funding round led by BIO and Oikocredit.
Fusion's peer, Bengaluru-headquartered microfinance firm CreditAccess Grameen Ltd (Grameen Koota), had filed its draft red herring prospectus with the country’s markets regulator to float an initial public offering.
