JUNE 2014:
knew our potential and were willing to support us.”
The Bangalore-headquartered online-only lending platform for small and medium enterprises was started by Stanford classmates Gaurav Hinduja and Sashank Rishyasringa. “The goal of Capital Float is to offer flexible short-term loans that can be used to purchase inventory and service new orders to optimise cash cycles. Borrowers apply online, select desired repayment terms and receive funds in their bank accounts in three days, all with minimal hassle,” explains Rishyasringa, its co-founder.
The third generation scion of the Hinduja family, which built Gokaldas Exports, Gaurav had seen suppliers and vendors struggle with financing. “We wanted to do something meaningful and impactful, leveraging the power of technology. Fintech was the obvious choice. Sashank, with his understanding of finance, capital markets and management consulting, and I, with my India experience, brought in complementary skills,” says Hinduja, Co-founder of Capital Float. They identified that SMES were borrowing close to $150 billion per annum from moneylenders and other informal sources. Also, SMES wanted easy-to-get, collateral-free loans. However, their plan for an online lending platform to disburse loans quickly without collateral was met with scepticism. “Investors said SMES are not tech-savvy. Since there is no collateral, they were wary of how we would recover the money,” Rishyasringa recalls.
Two and half years since its launch, Capital Float has the answers. The NBFC, today, has a loan book of `400 crore, operates across 40-plus cities and has raised $42 million, cumulatively, from the likes of SAIF Partners, Sequoia Capital, Aspada and Creation Investments, in three rounds of funding. Surprisingly, it is also partnering