Lentra enters SE Asia to boost lending play

By K Amoghavarsha

  • 14 Feb 2023
D Venkatesh, founder and chief executive officer at Lentra

HDFC Bank-backed lending software provider Lentra has forayed into Southeast Asian markets with an aim to achieve annual recurring revenue of $100 million by March end next year.

The startup will expand operations across the Philippines, Indonesia and Vietnam.

The announcement comes at the back of Lentra’s $60 million Series B funding round led by Bessemer Venture Partners, Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and Citi Ventures.  

“We are at an inflection point in Lentra’s growth. Our learnings over the past few years and beyond will prove critical in delivering future performance and innovation,” said D Venkatesh, founder and chief executive officer at Lentra. 

Founded in 2019 by Venkatesh and Ankur Handa, Lentra allows banks to embrace digital processes through its software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering. Its lending cloud offers ready-to-use third-party API (application programming interface) connectors to various data sources that banks use for underwriting purposes.  

The Pune-based startup currently counts HDFC Bank, Federal Bank, Standard Chartered, IDFC, Aditya Birla Finance, Tata Capital, Tata Motor Finance and TVS Credit, among others, as part of its client portfolio in India and has established a clientele in the Philippines as well.   

The company claims to have processed over 50 million loans and aims to onboard 250 banking partners by the end of 2027. 

In the financial year 2022, the company managed to post revenue of Rs 78 crore, up from Rs 48 crore in FY21. 

In an interaction with VCCircle last year, Venkatesh said that the company was profitable in FY22, without sharing the exact earnings and added that it plans to increase its revenue to Rs 180 crore in FY23.  

Prior to the Series B funding round, Lentra secured more than $11 million from BVP, SIG and HDFC Bank in 2019.