CapitalG leads $22 Mn Series C round in micro lender Aye Finance

Micro lending platform Aye Finance has raised about $22 million in its Series C round led by CapitalG, the venture capital fund owned by Alphabet Inc. Existing investors SAIF Partners and LGT also participated in the new round.

This is the first equity funding for the Gurugram-based fintech startup in 2018 apart from three debt round. So far it has raised over Rs 200 crore from venture capital firms, and an additional Rs 500 crore from debt and equity funds.

Aye Finance will use the fresh capital to ramp up its business operations and technology by leveraging CapitalG's expertise.

Founded in 2014 by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, Aye Finance provides customer-centered financial services to micro and small businesses. With an average loan size of Rs 1 lakh, it primarily focuses on micro and small enterprises with Rs 10 lakh to Rs 1 crore in turnover every year.

With more than 72 branches across 10 states in North and South India, the startup claims to have disbursed Rs 700 crore to more than 60,000 customers since its inception. Besides, it also claims to have around Rs 350 crore in assets under management (AUM).

In April, Aye Finance raised Rs 30 crore in debt funding from existing investor BlueOrchard Finance. Prior to that, the firm had raised Rs 25 crore from Hinduja Leyland Finance and Intellegrow and raised Rs 40 crore from IFMR Capital in February and January respectively.

The company competes with Lendingkart, InCred, Capital Float, Indifi Technologies, and many others.

Aye Finance also claims to be the first fintech company to raise capital from CapitalG. Formerly known as Google Capital, CapitalG is a growth equity investment fund that helps technology companies scale fast with support from Google’s expertise and resources.

In India, it has made bet over a slew of startups including Cuemath, Cardekho, Practo and Commonfloor, to name a few.

The development was first reported by TOI.