Digital lending startup Lendingkart Technologies has raised Rs 212 crore ($30 million), led by existing investors Fullerton Financials, Bertelsmann India Investments and India Quotient.
The Bengaluru-based entity has raised equity funding of $143 million in total, including the latest round.
The company said it intends to use the fresh capital to expand reach and develop stronger analytics capabilities to evaluate borrowers better. Credit Suisse acted as the financial advisor in the fundraising.
The latest funding round comes at a time when fintech lending startups are struggling with higher borrowing costs and reduced interest from equity investors.
“This equity will help us meet the growth opportunities we are seeing. Micro and small businesses represent a vibrant, yet underserved segment of the Indian economy,” said chief executive officer Harshvardhan Lunia.
Since inception, Lendingkart Finance (the NBFC arm of the Lendingkart Group) has received nearly half a million applications, disbursing more than 60,000 loans to over 55,000 MSMEs across 1,300 locations in India.
Lendingkart leverages its in-house technology tools based on big data analytics and machine learning algorithms to evaluate creditworthiness.
By analysing thousands of data points to assess factors such as financial health, comparative market performance, social reliability and compliance, Lendingkart aims to disburse loans with minimal paperwork within 72 hours.
