Embedded lending startup Niro raises Rs 90Cr led by consortium of investors

Bengaluru-based fintech startup Niro has raised Rs 90 crore (or about $11 million) in a Series A funding round led by a consortium of investors, including Elevar Equity, GMO Venture Partners, Rebright Partners, Mitsui Sumitomo Insurance VC, and others. The Series A round is a mix of equity ($8.5 million) and debt ($2.5 million). The venture round was led by InnoVen Capital.

According to the startup, the raised capital would be used to expand its partnership footprint, product offerings, and risk analytics capabilities. 

Founded in 2021 by Aditya Kumar and Sankalp Mathur, Niro aims to embed personal credit products into leading consumer internet platforms. The fintech startup provides customised credit offerings to drive engagement and create value for the end consumers, in turn leading to revenue growth for the platforms.

It claims to have partnered with the internet firms like Snapdeal, Quikr, and Housing.com, among others. It also claims to have disbursed loans worth over Rs 300 crore across over 200 cities in India and has a monthly origination run rate of over Rs 60 crore.

Prior to the current round, Niro had raised $3.5 million in October 2021 as part of its seed funding round from Elevar Equity and angel investors like Kunal Shah, Nitin Gupta, Bala Parthasarathy, the Patni Family Office, R. Ramaraj and Aseem Dhru.

Statements:

Aditya Kumar, Co-Founder and CEO of Niro, said, “Sankalp and I are extremely humbled and excited to share news of this fundraise. Raising capital, especially in this environment, is a testament to the success of the Niro thesis which has seen rapid and real validation in a very short span of time. We’re grateful for
Elevar’s continued support, and excited to welcome GMO, Rebright Partners, MSIVC, Venture Catalysts and YAN to our journey. We strive to continue to deliver value for our platform partners, lenders, and ultimately, end consumers.” 

Jyotsna Krishnan, Managing Partner, Elevar Equity said, “Niro has demonstrated tremendous growth in a short time along with achieving robust risk metrics, near zero CAC, and in-depth partnerships. This model is unique in its effectiveness and is well poised to scale with this round of infusion - we see Niro well on its way to making a significant dent in what is a market of millions of underserved customers, looking for thoughtful credit opportunities to meet their aspirations.”

Ryu Muramatsu, Founding Partner, GMO VenturePartners, said, “As GMO, we believe in the founders with solid execution capabilities and a genuine dedication to problem-solving. Aditya and Sankalp, serial entrepreneurs in the space, have demonstrated credentials and founder-market-fit to a great extent. We are honoured to support them by bridging Japan’s capital and India’s fintech ecosystem.”

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