Online lending platform PaySense raises Series B funds from PayU, others

Mumbai-based Paysense Services India Pvt. Ltd, which operates an online consumer lending platform, has raised $18 million (Rs 123.88 crore) in a Series B funding round, a company statement said.

Naspers-owned PayU led the round putting in $11.5 million (Rs 79.14 crore) into the entity, the statement added.

The company did not disclose the other participating investors, but a report in The Economic Times said that existing investors Jungle Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners had put in money too.

While the media statement did not specifically mention how the fund will be used, it hinted that the latest round is expected to go towards ramping up its tech platform and expanding its team.

“We continue to invest in our tech and team to deliver an exceedingly simple, fast and fully digital process for our customers. The consumer lending market in India is ripe for disruption and this capital will equip us to focus on this huge, untapped market potential,” Prashanth Ranganathan, co-founder and CEO of PaySense, said in the statement.

In May last year, PaySense had raised $5.3 million (Rs 34 crore then) in a Series A round led by Singapore-based venture capital firm Jungle Ventures. South African business conglomerate Naspers and existing investor Nexus Venture Partners also participated in the round.

In 2015, it raised $2.3 million from Nexus Venture Partners and other angel investors.

PaySense

The Mumbai-based lending startup was founded in 2015 by Ranganathan and Sayali Karanjkar. The company operates a mobile app, through which users can finance online and offline purchases through equated monthly instalments. After filling out an online application form, users can select the required EMI plan and upload KYC documents. Users can apply for personal loans of up to Rs 2 lakh and repay it in three to 24 months.

The company, which is currently operational in over 50 cities, has tied up with Mumbai-based IIFL (India Infoline)—its sole lending partner—and has disbursed 60,000 loans in the last 12 months.

Ranganathan is a Stanford University alumnus and was earlier part of Paypal, handling its Southeast Asian operations. Co-founder and chief operating officer Sayali is an alumnus of the Kellogg School of Management and had previously founded Outsy, a local discovery platform for content in entertainment and lifestyle

Deals in the space

Investors have been bullish over startups in the fin-tech segment for the past few months.

In 2017, the sector recorded a four-fold jump in funding to $1.84 billion from $447 million the year before that, as per VCCEdge, the research arm of News Corp VCCircle.

A number of fin-tech ventures have secured funding from investors. This month along saw many deals being struck.

Earlier this week, SME lending platform OfBusiness raised $29 million (Rs 200 crore) in a Series C round of funding led by two new US-based investors; Impact investment firm Creation Investments and hedge fund Falcon Edge.

Mumbai-based LoanTap Financial Technologies Pvt. Ltd, a digital platform that offers loans and overdraft products to salaried professionals, raised $6.25 million (around Rs 42.8 crore) in a fresh round of funding led by Chinese venture capital firm Shunwei Capital.

Online lending marketplace IndiaLends raised Rs 63.9 crore ($9.3 million) from London-based ACP Partners with participation from existing investors American Express Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners and AdvantEdge Partners along with India-focused Chinese fund, Ganesh Ventures, which has Alibaba’s Jack Ma as one of its backers.

In June, ETechAces Marketing & Consulting Pvt. Ltd, which runs online insurance selling platform PolicyBazaar.com and lending marketplace PaisaBazaar.com, raised $200 million (Rs 1,360 crore) in a funding round led by SoftBank Vision Fund at a valuation of more than $1 billion.