Fintech start-up Billionloans gets $1 mn from Reliance Capital

Bangaluru-based fintech start-up Billionloans, which operates a peer-to-peer (P2P) lending platform, has raised $1 million as a seed funding from Reliance Capital’s arm- Reliance Corporate Advisory Services Ltd.

This is the second major start-up investment for Billionloans, after Paytm. Billionloans facilitates loan transactions between borrowers and lenders. Primarily it focuses on providing flexible and affordable financing options to individuals and small businesses that have so far found it difficult to access loans from the traditional banking system to meet their aspirations

The company was founded in 2016 by Rangan Varadan, a serial entrepreneur who has also co-founded MicroGraam , an online micro-lending platform, along with other professionals in the finance and IT industry.

“Technology and innovation in financial services are going to play a big part in bridging the gap between aspirations of large number of Indians wanting access to credit on one hand and the ability of companies to build efficient and scalable lending models on the other,” Reliance Capital executive director Anmol Ambani said.

Billionloans plans to initially focus on providing educational loans, affordable housing loans and personal loans to individuals and business loans to SMEs. The start-up is expected to facilitate loans of around Rs 2,000 crore across multiple products and lenders in next three years.

Commenting on funding, Billionloans Chairman, Balakrishnan said, “Our goal is to fundamentally disrupt how borrowers are sourced and appraised using technology in the quickest possible manner. This will lead to a dramatic change in access, both for borrowers with thin credit histories and for lenders looking to expand beyond their traditional customer bases.”

India has a large pool of unbanked population, who do not have access to the formal banking system. Billionloans aims to disrupt how borrowers are sourced and appraised using technology.

Month of June came with a good luck for fintech fraternity. And July also seems to be a monsoon for fintech start-ups. More than 10 fintech start-ups got funded in June. Some of them are Kissht, which raised $2 million from early stage investors Endiya Partners and Ventureast, while MoneyTap raised  $9 million in series A led by Sequoia India and Early Salary raised $4 million from IDG Ventures India and others, LaonTap raises $4 mn from Kae Capital and others, to name a few.

Image credit: DNA India