NBFC firm Techfino raises Rs 65 crore in equity round to boost MSME lending

Non-banking finance company Techfino has raised Rs 65 crore in equity funding led by Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital, the venture investment arm of Tokyo-listed Credit Saison.

The Bengaluru-based lender plans to use the capital to expand its secured lending operations focused on micro and small enterprises (MSEs) in India’s semi-urban and rural regions. The investment will help the firm double its physical footprint—from 30 to 60 branches—over the next 12 months, bolster its workforce, and further develop its proprietary credit risk assessment technology tailored for India’s informal economy.

“We’ve been profitable since our first full year of operations, and our core strength has been a tight grip on asset quality,” said Rajesh Panda, Co-founder of Techfino. “This fundraise is purely equity and will be used to drive growth through branch-led expansion and people hiring, especially for our MSME loan against property business.”

Founded in 2019 by a trio of former banking executives—Panda (ex-Standard Chartered), Jayaprakash Patra (ex-ICICI, ING), and Ratikant Satapathy (ex-Bajaj Finance)—Techfino operates two primary lending verticals: unsecured education loans offered in partnership with over 100 institutions, and secured loans for MSEs, primarily in tier 2 and 3 cities.

With an asset under management (AUM) of about Rs 225 crore, including Rs 100 crore in its loan against property (LAP) portfolio, Techfino currently disburses more than Rs 10 crore in secured loans monthly—a figure it expects to double following the latest funding. The average LAP ticket size ranges between Rs 8 lakh and Rs 12 lakh, offered to small retailers, dairy farmers, and informal traders across Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh.

Unlike traditional models, Techfino evaluates household-level income, factoring in earnings of multiple family members—a practice particularly relevant in India's fragmented rural income landscape.

“Our typical borrower may be running a small grocery store while another family member works in a private firm. We assess household income holistically and build region-specific underwriting scorecards,” said Satapathy.

The firm attributes much of its scalability to its tech infrastructure, which integrates APIs for banking data, property verification, and legal checks. “We’ve built proprietary scorecards for property, bureau, and banking data and have embedded legal checks into the system. This allows us to underwrite rural borrowers with the same speed and precision as urban fintechs,” Satapathy added.

To date, Techfino has disbursed over one lakh loans across both its verticals and counts DCB Bank among its previous backers. The company closed FY25 with total revenue of Rs 34 crore and profit before tax of Rs 1.5 crore. It currently employs about 400 staff and plans to increase headcount to 600 by the end of this year.

While its education financing segment continues to operate profitably through institutional tie-ups with universities such as Manipal and Amity, the firm is increasingly focused on its secured portfolio. “Education lending will continue at a steady pace, but we see humongous growth ahead in MSME LAP. That’s where we’re doubling down,” Panda said.