Hyderabad-based online peer-to-peer lending platform AnyTimeLoan has struck a strategic deal with Spice Mobility, where Spice will pick up 30% stake in the platform with a total infusion of $4 million.
Of the $4 million that will be invested in tranches over the next 12-18 months, $2 million will be immediate.
According to the stock exchange filing, Spice Mobility will be investing in the company through its subsidiary Spice Digital. The company will also subscribe to compulsorily convertible preference shares of Luharia Technologies, which runs ATL.
ATL will be using these funds to build and expand its team, to enhance its technology and for marketing purposes.
“The advantage with Spice Mobility for ATL apart from the monetary factor is that they are already present across many places and are already Pre-paid instruments (PPI) approved players. The overall group too, is now focused on fintech and do is realigning towards that, which is in line with what ATL is trying to achieve,” says Keerthi Kumar Jain, founder, ATL.
Geographically too, ATL stands to benefit from Spice’s presence across over 28,000 pin codes in India, which is over close to 20mn footfalls every month in terms of retail customers that ATL can leverage.
Founded in September 2014, ATL is a tech-driver system that can assess borrower applications in a paperless, contact-less and friction-less environment. Based out of Hyderabad startup incubator T-Hub, ATL developed a proprietary algorithm that uses data science, artificial intelligence, machine learning and robotics to offer instant loans by connecting eligible borrowers with listed lenders. The maximum time that it might take for a transaction, according to ATL, is a mere 15 minutes.
ATL offers personal or consumer loans, as low as Rs 1000 to Rs 1 lakh, educational loans from Kindergarten to grade 12 – called K12 loans – and MSME (Micro, small and medium enterprise) business loans of Rs 30,000 up to Rs 50 lakh. Business and education loans do not require any collaterals, physical documents or guarantors.
The lenders on ATL’s platform are High Net-worth Individuals (HNIs), family houses, NBFCs and most recently YES Bank.
Already a profitable startup, ATL has so far disbursed loans worth Rs 76 crore at a gross level and Rs 45 crore at a net level.
The funds it raised from Spice is its Series A round. In 2016, it raised an angel round of Rs 22.25 crore.