The firm also counts credit card management startups Credit and Stride Ventures as investors. The new funds will be used to expand its product suite and grow its technology and data science infrastructure, Founder and CEO Gaurav Kumar Told ET.
“The capital will go to manufacturing our product as we envision it; We are not even one percent of where we want to be. This will be used to enhance technology, data analysis, product and platform capabilities,” Kumar said.
CredAvenue operates a platform that connects loan-seeking corporates with financial institutions and other investors who can facilitate such loan offerings through various instruments. CredAvenue is not a non-banking financial company (NBFC), meaning that the firm does not lend on its book, and only facilitates these transactions for entities on its platform.
“We are an operating system for India’s debt capital market. We work with AAA rated enterprises and unrated businesses. The size of the debt on our marketplace ranges from Rs 50 crore to Rs 3,000-4,000 crore,” Kumar said, this is the first of its kind venture in India.
He added that the Chennai-based firm currently has over 1,500 corporates and over 750 lenders, facilitating loans of over Rs 72,000 crore. It now aims to double it in the next year and plans to add more corporates and lenders. The startup currently facilitates six types of loan transactions: large working capital term loans, loan origination, corporate bonds, securitization, co-lending and trade financing.
record breaking season
CredAvenue’s latest fundraise is the largest ever Series A round in India’s startup ecosystem, ahead of Ola Electric’s $58 million in 2019 and
$50 million for Mensa Brands in May 2021According to data from Venture Intelligence. Other Indian startups with big Series A rounds include
FamPay ($38 million in June 2021), Design Cafe ($29 million in December 2018) and
Credits ($25 million in September 2018), data showed.
Avendus Capital was an advisor to CredAvenue for this transaction.
“Evaluation is extremely attractive to us; To my knowledge this is the most valuable Series A. The reason we move forward is with the choice of partners. More than valuations, for the long term, these are the partners we wanted to work with,” Kumar said. “We are mission-focused as a team. If we get this right, it will be transformative for the ecosystem and the country.”
According to
Sakshi Chopra, Managing Director of Sequoia IndiaThe range of offerings and corporates on CredAvenue can help deepen India’s debt market.
Chopra said, “CredAvenue is a unique solution that not only facilitates access to credit for borrowers ranging from BB to AA ratings, but also provides access to multiple loan products such as bonds, supply chain financing, etc., on a single, integrated platform. makes improvements.” “We believe this is an opportunity to become the platform of choice for borrowers and lenders operating in the credit market.”