ICICI Venture, the alternative investment arm of ICICI Bank, has led a Series E funding round of $35 million (Rs 290 crore) in technology-based small businesses financier Indifi Technologies, marking its second investment from the fifth private equity fund.
The fundraise also saw participation from existing investors like British International Investment (BII), OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I, Omidyar Network India, Flourish Ventures and CX Partners.
The fresh proceeds will be deployed for product development, geographical expansion and scaling up customer access, Indifi said in a statement on Tuesday.
In November last year, ICICI Venture invested Rs 360 crore (around $44.3 million) in consumer houseware company Cello World, marking the first bet from its fifth private equity fund.
Founded in 2015, Indifi operates an online lending platform that offers business loans to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) that have limited access to credit from traditional financial institutions.
The Gurugram-based company claims to have enabled companies from the hospitality, travel, e-commerce, trading and retail sectors. The company claims to have disbursed more than 73,000 loans across 400 cities, to date.
Last month, the company announced that it doubled its assets under management (AUM) to over Rs 1,500 crore in the financial year (FY) 2023. The company which turned profitable in FY 22 said that it maintained its profitability throughout FY23, but didn’t disclose the financial details further.
“As an organisation, we aim to create positive outcomes for MSMEs across India by using technology with a ground-level understanding of the MSME ecosystem,” said Alok Mittal, managing director and chief executive officer, Indifi Technologies.
“Indifi has created a digital technology platform for lending to the large MSME sector, enabling access to credit for this underserved segment of the Indian economy,” added Nikhil Mohta, senior director, private equity, ICICI Venture.
ICICI Venture’s fifth PE fund has raised $400 million within a few months from launch mainly from existing investors – large sovereign wealth funds, insurance companies, banks, fund of funds and family offices,
Set up in 1988, ICICI Venture now manages four funds with total PE assets under management (AUM) of $1.65 billion across four funds – India Advantage Fund (IAF) Series 1, 2, 3 and 4. The IAF-4 fundraise was closed at $250 million (around ₹1,900 crore) in September 2017.
The PE major has invested in over 55 companies across all four funds. Some of its marquee investments include the recently-listed Go Fashions India, Theobroma Foods, Metropolis Health Services, Home Solutions (a subsidiary of Pantaloons Retail, owned by Aditya Birla Group), Bharat Biotech and Epack Durable Pvt Ltd.
In 2021, Indifi raised $45 million in a mix of equity and debt financing, as a part of its Series D funding round.
CX Partners and OP Finnfund Global Impact Fund I led the equity funding round. BII, the UK’s development finance institution, Accel, Omidyar Network, Flourish Ventures, and Elevar Equity participated in the round.
In the MSME lending tech space, Indifi pits against the likes of Lendingkart, AyeFinance, Kredx and Flexiloans, among others.
