Fintech SaaS startup Lentra raises $27 Mn in extended Series B round

Cloud lending firm Lentra has raised $27 million as part of its extended Series B round led by MUFG Bank and Dharana Capital.

The software as a service (SaaS) startup had raised $60 million in a Series B round in November 2022 led by its existing investors Bessemer Venture Partners and SIG Venture Capital with participation from Citi Ventures. Ahead of the Series B round,  HDFC also announced to divest 3.21% stake worth Rs 54.16 crore held in Lentra. As per the banking firm, this would be a partial divestment of the bank in the five-year-old startup.

Founded by D Venkatesh and Ankur Handa, Lentra is designed and developed to empower banks with a fully digital ecosystem. For banks, it offers ready-to-use 3rd party API connectors to various data sources. It works with HDFC Bank, Federal Bank, Standard Chartered and IDFC First Bank, among others.

Besides India, Lentra has extended its presence to Vietnam, Philippines, Indonesia and the US by successfully setting up subsidiaries. In a strategic partnership with Google Cloud, Lentra has also completed the launch of its loan management system called 1LMS that enables lenders to fulfill the needs of billions of borrowers at accelerated speed and accuracy.

The company claims to have services for more than 60 financial institutions and processed more than $27 billion worth of loan applications on its platform.

Lentra recorded a 60% jump in its operating revenue to Rs 71.53 crore in FY22 from Rs 44.72 crore in the previous fiscal year, according to the company’s annual financial statements. During the period, its losses surged over two fold to Rs 52 crore from Rs 24.7 crore. The company expected to close FY23 at Rs 180 crore in revenue.

By 2027, the firm targets to onboard 250 banking partners and reach $250 million (Rs 2,000 crore) in annual recurring revenue (ARR).