AI-driven credit underwriting startup AbleCredit raises $1.25M in a seed round led by Merak Ventures

AbleCredit, an AI-driven credit underwriting startup, has raised $1.25 million in a seed funding round led by Merak Ventures, a sector-agnostic early-stage venture capital (VC) firm.

The round also saw participation from Venture Catalysts and Helios Holdings (Suraj Nalin). 

The startup plans to use the raised capital to scale its AI operations and expand its business.

What does AbleCredit do?

India faces a substantial credit gap of Rs 25 trillion, primarily due to a shortage of qualified underwriters and high underwriting costs.

AbleCredit aims to bridge this gap in emerging markets by leveraging advanced AI technology.

The startup is developing Generative AI models with voice, vision, and language capabilities to act as an AI assistant for credit teams. These models can generate comprehensive credit reports on a case-by-case basis, adhering to credit policies and guidelines.

The startup claims that the innovative capabilities of these models make them suitable even for the informal sector, which includes many new-to-credit customers with limited data.

Revolutionized the credit underwriting process

AbleCredit’s AI models have revolutionized the credit underwriting process by significantly enhancing speed and reducing costs.

The startup claims that its technology can increase underwriting speed by over 20 times and decrease underwriting costs by enhancing credit process throughput by 12 times.

This efficiency allows the company to provide small businesses with loans in under a minute, with a goal of processing one million loan applications over the next 12 months.

Manu Rikhye, Partner at Merak Ventures, highlighted the transformative potential of AbleCredit's technology, stating, “Credit underwriting, historically a time-consuming process in loan disbursement, is ripe for transformation with recent advancements in AI. AbleCredit’s innovative tools promise unprecedented speed and efficiency in underwriting, empowering companies to make decisions faster and more effectively. At Merak Ventures, we are committed to championing such impactful solutions for real-world challenges.”

Merak Ventures, which launched a $100 million fund in November 2022, plans to invest in up to 20 startups over the next three to four years.

Who are the Founders of AbleCredit?

AbleCredit was founded by a dynamic team consisting of Utkarsh Apoorva, Harshad Saykhedkar, Ashwini Prabhu, and Anubhab Bandyopadhyay.

Each founder brings a unique set of skills and extensive experience to the table.

Utkarsh, the CEO, is a serial entrepreneur with successful ventures like Reshamandi, Guitarstreet, and Edulabs under his belt. Harshad, the Chief AI Officer, has over 13 years of expertise in AI.

Ashwini serves as the Chief Product Officer (CPO), and Anubhab is the Chief Technology Officer (CTO), both bringing their experience from major corporations and small-scale industries.

Leadership comments

Utkarsh Apoorva, CEO of AbleCredit, said, “Emerging economies are facing a significant credit gap in the MSME sector, leading to unemployment and economic barriers. At AbleCredit, our AI system leverages voice, vision, and language capabilities to extend credit analysis into traditionally overlooked sectors. This approach enables us to serve a wide range of industries by analyzing alternative data sources to produce comprehensive credit assessments."