Digital lending platform Shubh Loans has raised Rs 34 crore ($4.7 million) in a new round led by Omidyar Network, the company said in a statement.
Existing investors Saama Capital, Beenext, SRI Capital and Pravega Ventures also participated in the funding round.
The company will use the funds to expand its customer platform, grow the data science team and credit scoring platform to incorporate next generation features including ‘Credit locks’.
Monish Anand, co-founder at Shubh Loans, said the funding will expand our footprint in India and improve customer experience by augmenting data science capabilities. “By providing timely access to loans for an under-served market, we ensure that aspiring Indians are not denied rightful borrowing for their personal needs,” he said.
Shubh Loans, which is operated by Datasigns Technologies Pvt. Ltd, was launched by Monish Anand, Rahul Sekar, Anand Barua and Tushar Patel in 2016. It is a vernacular language app that builds a proprietary credit score and report for loan applicants.
The Bengaluru-based firm primarily provides personal loans to the new-to-credit segment of borrowers. Users can apply for a loan of up to Rs 5 lakh with a maximum tenure of four years.
The startup has partnered with banks and non-banking finance companies to provide loans and is available in six languages such as English, Hindi, Kannada, Telugu, Tamil and Marathi.
Amol Warange, principal at Omidyar Network, said Shubh Loans not only provides credit to an underserved market, but also leverages technology to promote financial literacy by handholding its customers towards better credit behaviour and financial health.
The firm raised $4.2 million in a round led by venture capital firm Saama Capital last August and prior to that it raised $1.5 million (about Rs 10 crore) in a pre-Series A round from SRI Capital, BeeNext and Pravega Ventures in September 2017.
Fintech deals
The fintech segment has emerged as a preferred destination for investors over the past couple of years, given its high scope for disruption and the government’s push to go digital.
Among the recent deals, Bengaluru-based Goddard Technical Solutions Pvt. Ltd, which operates online lending platform Avail Finance, raised another $9 million as part of its Series A funding round led by existing investor Matrix Partners India in July this year.
In the same month, multi-stage investor Sequoia Capital India also backed similar platform Progcap, operated by Delhi-based Desiderata Impact Ventures Pvt. Ltd.
