This new financing will strengthen Aye Finance’s ability to provide critical financial support to underserved MSMEs across India. The startup raised INR 310 Cr in a Series F fundraising round spearheaded by the UK’s British International Investment (BII) in December. Aye Finance provides inexpensive business loans to microenterprises in the country.
Aye Finance, a fintech loan startup, has raised debt capital of INR 137 crore from German impact investing and portfolio management business Invest in Visions.
According to a statement from Aye Finance, the funding was provided by IIV Mikrofinanzfonds and another private fund run by Invest in Visions, with assistance from Agents For Impact (AFI).
This comes months after the startup raised INR 310 crore in a Series F funding round led by UK-based British International Investment (BII) in December.
This new financing will strengthen Aye Finance’s ability to provide critical financial support to underserved MSMEs across India. The funds will also be utilized to lend to these enterprises, allowing them to expand and contribute to economic development, according to the statement.
According to Inc42, “This new funding will expand our reach to micro-enterprises and provide innovative financial products tailored to their unique needs.” We are optimistic that this will allow us to empower even more businesses and realize their full potential, resulting in job creation and economic development across the country,” stated Krishan Gopal, CFO of Aye Finance.
According to the firm, the collaboration between Aye Finance, Invest in Visions, and Agents for Impact would empower MSMEs and improve financial inclusion in India.
According to Inc42, Camellia Genova, senior portfolio manager at Invest in Visions, stated, “We very much enjoy our cooperation with Aye Finance in their objective to provide socially responsible funding to MSMEs in India, who are usually underserved by banks and frequently grow out of microfinance.
Aye Finance, founded in 2014 by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, provides cheap business loans to microenterprises around the country. It assesses risk without the need of typical business documentation by combining cluster-based credit assessment with AI algorithms.
Last month, the startup said that it has granted more than INR 10,000 crore in loans to small businesses in India, demonstrating its commitment to supporting them and encouraging inclusive growth. It also claims to have an active client base of over 4.5 lakh micro firms and an AUM of more than INR 4,000 crores.
A startup announced last year that its Q1 FY24 profit after tax was INR 38.67 Cr, a 4X increase over the Q1 FY23 profit of INR 9.78 Cr.
The business invests in microenterprises in manufacturing, services, trading, job creation, and dairy, and competes in the lending tech area with ftcash, ARTH, FlexiLoans, Lendingkart, LenDenClub, and Kinara Capital.
