Gurugram's NBFC firm Aye Finance raises $16.2M in debt from German impact investors

Gurugram-based Aye Finance, a non-banking financial company (NBFC), has raised $16.2 million in debt funding through external commercial borrowing.

The funding comes from IIV Mikrofinanzfonds and another private fund managed by Invest in Visions, a German impact investment and portfolio management firm, with execution support from Agents For Impact (AFI), a sustainability connector of investors and social impact organisations.

Expanding lending to underserved MSMEs

The firm will utilize the raised capital to expand lending to the underserved medium, small, and micro enterprises (MSMEs) in India.

Krishan Gopal, CFO of Aye Finance, emphasized the initiative's goal to reach a larger population of micro-enterprises with innovative financial products tailored to their diverse needs.

“We are confident that this will enable us to empower even more entrepreneurs and unlock their full potential, ultimately contributing to job creation and economic prosperity across the country," Gopal said. 

What did the investors say about Aye Finance?

Camellia Genova, Senior Portfolio Manager at Invest in Visions, said, “We very much appreciate our cooperation with Aye Finance in their mission to provide socially responsible funding to MSMEs in India, which are traditionally underserved by banks and often grown out of microfinance. Financing of micro enterprises and SMEs, often referred to as “the missing middle”, is crucial as they provide most of the jobs in the country.”

Aye Finance growth 

Aye Finance has made significant strides in supporting grassroots businesses across India, with over Rs 10,000 crore in loans disbursed and an active client base exceeding 450,000 micro-enterprises.

The firm claims that its assets under management (AUM) have surpassed Rs 4,000 crore. The funding round follows a Series F funding round in December, where Aye Finance raised Rs 310 crore from the UK's development finance institution, British International Investment (BII), with participation from the Waterfield Fund of Funds and Aye’s existing shareholder, A91 Partners.

Who are the founders?

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, Aye Finance stands out for its use of cluster-based credit assessment coupled with AI algorithms. This approach allows for risk assessment in the absence of traditional business documents, offering affordable business loans to microenterprises across various sectors, including manufacturing, services, trading, and dairy.