Fintech startup CredRight raises $9.7 Mn led by Dell Foundation

Fintech startup CredRight has raised Rs 78 crore (approximately $9.7 million) through a combination of equity and debt. The equity capital funding was led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation with participation from existing investors including YourNest, Spearhead Capital, 9Unicorns and Accion Venture Lab. The debt capital funding was provided by Blacksoil, Caspian Debt, RevX Capital, and Westen Capital.

In September 2021, the Hyderabad-based startup raised $2.7 million in a round led by 9Unicorns and others.

CredRightwill utilise this capital to expand further into new locations, strengthen its technology stack and work towards impacting the lives of small business owners by helping them access formal finance, the company said in a press release.

CredRight is a data-driven lending platform that facilitates credit to small businesses and MSMEs via NBFCs and Banks. It has built a distribution model to reach out to India’s 10 million Registered chit subscribers who are largely located in tier-III and tier-IV cities.

The company is trying to bridge the financing gap that is wider still for nano entrepreneurs, businesses with an annual turnover of up to Rs 1 crore. According to the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) report, fewer than 10% of MSMEs in the country currently have access to formal finance. CredRight said that it has served more than 5,000 nano enterprises to date.

Founded in 2016 by Neeraj Bansal and Vineet Jawa, CredRight recently received an NBFC license and claims to have one of the lowest NPAs in the industry. As per the company, it has experienced a 10x growth in its assets under management (AUM) over the past three years and is targeting AUM of Rs 2,000 crore over the next three years.

While the firm is yet to file its annual financial statements for FY23, it recorded Rs 3.93 crore in revenue in FY22 with a loss of Rs 4.73 crore in the fiscal year.