Aye Finance, a new-age finance company providing business loans to small and micro enterprises across India, has raised Rs 107 crore in debt funding from BlueOrchard. The Switzerland-based investor has already invested Rs 183 crore in the finance company, taking the total amount to Rs 290 crore. Falcon Edge, HDFC, ICICI, FMO and DCB Bank are the other investors in the start-up.
These funds will be utilized to provide customised and affordable credit solutions to the start-up businesses and boost their growth in the new age of India.
Aye Finance has managed to raise Rs 1,140 crore in the year 2019 from its investors in both debt and equity forms. A total fund it received in the last month ranged to Rs 125 crore.
“This is the sixth round of funds we have received from BlueOrchard and I believe this demonstrates their comfort with and commitment to our business. Lending to micro enterprises has been a less travelled path for banks and financial companies and hence it is satisfying to have established an innovative paradigm of our lending approach. Aye team has demonstrated the robustness of our cluster-based lending approach having enabled the inclusion of close to 2 lakh micro enterprises using this approach,” said Sanjay Sharma, MD and Founder of Aye Finance, on the latest fundraise.
Aye Finance works on the micro lending format which has helped in disbursing loans up to 1, 96, 000 businesses and the amount contributed is Rs 2,700 crore. There are 173 cities across 18 states in the country where the micro lending of Aye Finance reaches.
“India is an important market for BlueOrchard, and one that we have been actively investing in for almost 20 years. We have been working with Aye Finance since 2017. This additional funding is testament to our conviction in the company’s mission to bridge the gap between loans offered by MFIs and those available from commercial banks, offering MSMEs across India access to attractive credit solutions,” says Normunds Mizis, Chief Credit Officer at BlueOrchard.
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