Fullerton-backed lendingtech firm Lendingkart on Tuesday said that it has raised Rs 200 crore ($24.4 million) in long-term debt funding from growth-stage debt financing platform EvolutionX Debt Capital.
Lendingkart, which also counts Bertelsmann, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, Sistema Asia, and India Quotient as its backers, plans to use the funds to drive its core business growth as it plans to increase the number of its MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) borrowers.
The company will also invest a part of the corpus to improve its tech capabilities that support its lending platform. Further, in partnerships with banks and NBFCs (non-banking financial companies), it is planning to launch new financial products such as credit cards for MSMEs, personal loans for self-employed individuals, gold loans, etc.
“Over the years, we have built efficient and robust technology to support the underserved MSME sector. FY24 is going to be an exciting year for Lendingkart as we look to solve newer challenges by creating industry-first products and evolving our tech stack,” said Harshvardhan Lunia, founder and chief executive officer of Lendingkart Group.
Lendingkart was founded by Lunia in 2014. It provides capital access to MSMEs, and also operates fintech platforms such as 2gthr, Cred8, Xlr8, and Collec10. The platforms aim to improve the lending capabilities of banks and other lenders while minimizing lending risks. It competes with other players in the same sector, such as Aye Finance, Clix Capital, NeoGrowth, and FlexiLoans.
In the financial year ended March 2023, Lendingkart reported a profit of Rs 120 crore, a significant improvement compared to the net loss of approximately Rs 203 crore in the previous fiscal year.
Also, the company's loan disbursals grew 44% during FY23, reaching around Rs 4,000 crore. Furthermore, its revenue increased by 34% to Rs 828 crore in FY23 from Rs 616 crore in the previous fiscal year.
For EvolutionX, which provides debt financing to technology-enabled companies across Asia, with a focus on India, China, and Southeast Asia, Lendingkart is its first fintech investment.
“We see tremendous opportunities for fintech players in India’s large but underserved MSME credit space. We believe Lendingkart will continue to lead the market and fill the funding gap for the MSMEs,” said Rahul Shah, partner of EvolutionX Debt Capital.
In the past, EvolutionX has backed a few Indian unicorns in the recent past, including business-to-business marketplace Udaan and API Holdings Ltd, the parent company of the online pharmacy platform PharmEasy.