HDFC Bank-backed lending software provider Lentra has raised $60 million in its Series B funding round, led by existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners (BVP) and Susquehanna International Group (SIG) and with participation from Citi Ventures.
The latest round valued the company at $400 million, D Venkatesh, founder and chief executive, Lentra told VCCircle in an interview. Masterkey Capital was the investment banker for the deal.
The Pune-headquartered firm plans to use the capital to improve product and enhance its offerings. It also plans to expand internationally, starting with Southeast Asian markets, convinced by the credit-worthy population in these areas. It will be operational in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam by the beginning of next quarter and in two more economies going forward. The company also plans to expand to the US.
To complement its capabilities, Lentra is also looking to acquire companies in data solutions, robotics process automation and payments solutions. The company is looking to stock deals rather than a cash deal, Venkatesh said.
“We believe we will be able to assimilate one or two based on size or promise disparity,” he added.
Founded in 2019 by Venkatesh and Ankur Handa, Lentra allows banks to embrace digital processes through its software-as-a-service offering. Its Lentra Lending Cloud offers ready-to-use third-party API (application programming interface) connectors to various data sources that banks use for underwriting purposes. It has more than 50 clients in India and will be using the funding to expand overseas.
“We see a massive opportunity for ourselves in the retail assets and business banking areas worldwide. Our clients see us as a source of competitive advantage for their business. Some of the biggest retail banks as our clients now, act as markers of our solution architecture,” said Venkatesh.
Lentra claims that more than 40 banks and processes use its lending cloud services for over 3 million applications monthly. It also claims to have processed more than 13 billion transactions and $21 billion worth of loans on its platform so far.
Currently a team of about 500 people, Lentra would be a 700-member team in a year.
“Lentra is our first fintech investment in India. As a global bank, we look forward to Lentra scaling their products and platform internationally,” said Everett Leonidas, director and Asia-Pacific lead investor for Citi Ventures.
In the financial year 2022, the company posted a revenue of Rs 78 crore, up from Rs 48 crore in the previous fiscal. Venkatesh said that the company was profitable in FY22, without sharing the exact earnings.
In FY23, Lentra is aiming for a revenue of Rs 180 crore. Prior to this round, the company had raised more than $11 million from BVP, SIG and HDFC Bank in 2019.
In June 2022, Lentra acquired Chennai and Singapore-based AI company TheDataTeam for an undisclosed amount to help banks and financial institutions make better data-driven decisions on customers' loan repayment history.
