Grapevine: Finnov to clean out China backers, eyes new investors Premji, Mirae, others

By Ankit Agarwal

  • 27 Oct 2020
Credit: 123RF.com

PremjiInvest, South Korea’s Mirae Asset Venture Investment and others are in talks to invest up to $40 million (Rs 295 crore) in digital lender Finnov, a media report said.

Finnov, owner of platforms like KrazyBee and KreditBee, may raise the funding at a valuation of close to $200 million (Rs 1,478 crore), The Times of India reported, citing two people in the know.

PremjiInvest is the family investment office of Wipro Ltd founder-chairman Azim Premji

The investors have also shown interest in buying a significant stake from Chinese backers like Shunwei Capital and Kunlun, who together own up to 40% stake in the company, the people said.

The company raised $8 million from Shunwei and smartphone maker Xiaomi in 2017.

Finnov also counts the following among its investors: Chinese lending company Lexin and North American funds like Alpine Investors and Quark Ventures. 

“The idea is to clean the investors from China and make it an Indian-owned company,” said one of the persons mentioned earlier.