Lendingkart Fin raises $10mn debt from Kotak Mahindra, others

NEW DELHI: Lendingkart Finance Ltd, the non-banking financial company (NBFC) which is part of the Lendingkart Group, has raised $10 million or ₹67 crore in debt from Kotak Mahindra Bank, Aditya Birla Financial Services and other financial institutions.

The announcement comes shortly after the company raised ₹50 crore (as debt) from Yes Bank Ltd in June.

The corpus will be used to grow its lending programme to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and widen its pan-India presence, the company said on Thursday. Together with its credit scoring unit Lendingkart Technologies Pvt. Ltd, Lendingkart Finance offers collateral-free loans to SMEs for their working capital and other requirements.

“The funds from this round will be used to replenish our loan book and widen our range across the country,” said Harshvardhan Lunia, CEO and co-founder, Lendingkart Technologies.

Lendingkart has borrowed at least ₹250 crore from the market till date excluding the current round. The funds have come from at least two banks and various NBFCs, including IFMR Capital Finance Pvt Ltd, Hinduja Leyland Finance Ltd, Caspian Impact Investments Pvt Ltd, Mannapuram Finance Ltd and Sundaram Finance Ltd.

Lendingkart was founded in 2014 by Lunia and Mukul Sachan. It underwrites loans online to SMEs, lending at an annualized interest rate of 16-24%. It claims to have supported 9,500 businesses across 23 sectors.