Netherlands-based FMO leads $15 million funding in Lendingkart's NBFC arm

• The six-year-old startup will use the funding to expand its product presence through its digital lending platform.
• Lendingkart had previously raised Rs 319 crore from India Quotient, Sistema, Bertelsmann, and Fullerton Financial.
• So far, It had raised funds from the State Bank of India, Yes Bank, Anicut Capital, among others.

Ahmedabad-based Lendingkart's NBFC arm Lendingkart Finance (formerly Aadri Infin Limited), which provides unsecured loans to businesses, has raised $15 million (Rs 110 crore) in a debt financing round led by Dutch-based FMO, an entrepreneurial development bank that invests in private sector businesses.

With this funding round, Lendingkart will expand its product presence through to other industries through its digital lending platform, the statement said.

Prior to this round, Lendingkart Finance parent Lendingkart had raised Rs 319 crore in a Series D funding round in May 2020, co-led by India Quotient, Sistema Asia Capital, Fullerton Financial Holdings, and Bertelsmann India Investments. To date, the startup has raised around $255 million in its funding rounds.

Founded in 2014 by Harshvardhan Lunia and IIT Bangalore graduated Mukul Sachan, Lendingkart, which owns and operates Lendingkart Finance, provides short-term working capital to SMEs and MSMEs in the country. So far, Lendingkart Finance has provided more than one lakh loans to more than 89,000 small businesses across 1,300 cities and towns, the company claims. The fintech lending startup provides loans between Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 crore.

Commenting on the development, Harshvardhan Lunia, Co-Founder & MD, Lendingkart, said, "The funding demonstrates the continued international support towards India's vibrant MSME sector and its critical role in contributing to India’s vision to become a $5 trillion economy vision."

Speaking on the investment, Huib-Jan de Ruijter from FMO, said, "We are pleased we can partner with Lendingkart to better support its customers, with a focus towards women-run businesses and micro-enterprises."

Last month, another NBFC firm Five Star Finance, which also provides financing solutions to SMEs, raised $234 million led by KKR, Sequoia Capital India, Norwest Venture Partners, and TVS Capital.

Lendingkart operates two entities — Lendingkart Technologies and Lendingkart Finance. Lendingkart Technologies provides technology and digital marketing-based services through its own developed tools based on Big Data analytics that helps lenders evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness. 

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