Digital lending platform for micro, small and medium enterprises Lendingkart has acquired personal loan provider Upwards in a cash-and-stock deal worth Rs 100 – 120 crore.
As part of the acquisition, Upwards investors Mayfield and India Quotient will get an equity stake in Lendingkart, while its other major investor Shunwei Capital will cash out.
After the acquisition, Lendingkart, will continue to retain the Upwards brand, and will absorb its entire 100-member team. The acquisition will allow Lendingkart to focus on lending to micro-entrepreneurs as well as allow its MSME borrowers to extend personal loans to their blue-collar workforce.
Founded in 2017 by Abhishek Soni and Nimesh Verma, Upwards provides personal loans and instant credit lines to users, with an average ticket size of Rs 1.5 lakh. It claims 10 million downloads since inception and has an active loan book of Rs 200 crore.
Upwards has previously secured Rs 32 crore in 2018 in a round led by Shunwei Capital, a venture capital arm of Xiaomi..
Lendingkart aims to exit FY23 with overall revenue of $100 million and an outstanding loan book of Rs 5,000 crore. At present, Lendingkart’s direct exposure stands at roughly 20% of the overall loan disbursed every month with a monthly disbursal of Rs 400 crore.
It competes with Ola-owned Avail Finance, Kosh, Bueno Finance among several others.
