Aye Finance, a fintech startup in the business of lending has raised Rs 107 crore in debt funding from BlueOrchard, a Switzerland-based investor. BlueOrchard has already invested Rs 183 crore in Aye Finance, taking the total amount to Rs 290 crore. Capital G is the anchor investor in Aye. Falcon Edge, HDFC, ICICI, FMO and DCB Bank are the other investors in the startup.
Aye Finance will utilize these funds to extend affordable and customised credit solutions to the base of the pyramid businesses of India and power their growth in to the new age India.
Aye Finance has been able to raise funds from investors, though there is a general negative perception with the Indian non-banking finance sector. The company has managed to raise Rs 1,140 crore in the year 2019 from its investors in both debt and equity forms. Just last month, it received Rs 125 crore FMO a Dutch Development Bank.
Commenting on the latest fundraise, Sanjay Sharma, MD and Founder of Aye Finance said, “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”
The micro lending format adopted by Aye Finance can be understood by the fact that it has disbursed loans to 1,96,000 businesses and the amount disbursed 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,” Normunds Mizis, Chief Credit Officer at BlueOrchard said in a statement.