Cashkumar, a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending startup, has raised angel investment of Rs 5 crore (around $735,000) through deals platform LetsVenture.
The startup's first external funding was led by Mohan Kumar, executive director at global investment firm Norwest Venture Partners, and telecom company Reliance Jio's chief digital officer Vishal Sampat.
Run by Bengaluru-based Etyacol Technologies Pvt. Ltd, the fintech startup said in a statement that it will use the money for meeting regulatory norms, marketing and expanding operations from six to 20 cities.
Cashkumar was founded in 2012 by Dhiren Makhija, Kannan Kandappan and Yogesh Joshi. The company has received more than two lakh loan applications while disbursing more than a thousand loans on the platform worth Rs 5 crore.
"Our understanding of the customer lifecycle has helped gain good traction with almost zero marketing spend," said Makhija.
The company focusses on the salaried segment for loan amounts between Rs 20,000 to Rs 1 lakh with a tenure up to a year. It offers customers a flat interest rate ranging between 1.5% to 2.5 % per month.
"The investment decisions on the platform are based on credit analysis of a borrower spread across several data points," Makhija added.
The startup was a part of the 2015 Google LaunchPad cohort. It was also part of a Start-Up Chile initiative apart from being selected for the UKTI’s Tech Rocketships award in 2017.
P2P segment
P2P lenders, most of whom operate online, typically help borrowers get loans without collateral at rates higher than what traditional banks offer.
Reserve Bank of India had devised regulations for P2P startups last October that now categorise such firms as non-banking financial companies (NBFCs).
Earlier this week, Faircent became the first P2P startup to get a RBI licence under the new norms.
The inclusion under the regulatory framework has helped a number of startups in the P2P space raise funding in recent months.
Earlier this month, Mumbai-based fintech firm BigWin Infotech Pvt. Ltd, which owns yet-to-be-launched P2P marketplace PaisaDukan.com, raised $225,000 (Rs 1.5 crore) from a group of undisclosed angel investors.
Last last year, BK Modi group company Spice Mobility Ltd announced its intention to pick up a 30% stake in Luharia Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs anytimeloan.in, for Rs 12.5 crore ($1.95 million).
Around the same time, Delhi-based Fairassets Technologies India Pvt Ltd, which operates Faircent, had raised Rs 25 crore ($4 million) in a Series B round of funding led by new investor Incofin Investment Management, a Belgium-based impact investor.
LenDen Club had raised $500,000 from an undisclosed Mumbai-based venture capital fund, Venture Catalyst and Artha India Ventures in October last year.