Aye Finance secures Rs 44 crore in debt from Netherlands-based Triodos

Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) lender Aye Finance has raised Rs 44 crore rupee-denominated debt from the Netherlands-based Triodos Bank's wholly owned asset management subsidiary Triodos Investment Management.

This is the second round of funding for the Gurugram-based company this year. Earlier, it secured Rs 51 crore (approx) from global impact investment manager, Blue Orchard through non-convertible debentures (NCDs).

Aye Finance lends working capital to customers working across 40 different industry clusters, from manufacturers of shoes and sports equipment to furniture and readymade garment.  It’s focused solely on micro and small enterprises with Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore in turnover every year.

In November last year the company snapped up Rs 70 Crore in a Series B round led by LGT IV along with existing investors SAIF Partners and Accion.

So far, Aye Finance had raised about Rs 200 crore in debt last year. According to a report in Economic Times, it has an asset under management of Rs 240 crore and has catered to about 25,000 borrowers.

Aye Finance lends at 22-28% yearly rate and has 72 branches across 10 states in North and South India.

This year NBFCs have been witnessing significant interest from investors as well as debt funders. Last month, Chennai-based Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) Five Star raised Rs 333 crore in its Series C round.

Digital lending platform Lendingkart had raised $10 million in debt from clutch of financial institutions for its NBFC subsidiary. The NBFC arm of the company reportedly raised more than 100 crore since January 2017.

According to an industry estimate, about 36 million enterprises in the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) sector contribute to over 45% of India’s manufacturing output. This offers a unique opportunity for NBFC to finance micro, small and medium sized enterprises.