Anju Patwardhan joined China-based wealth management and online lending platform CreditEase as a venture partner today and will make strategic investments through its CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund.
CreditEase established the Fintech Investment Fund in 2015 and is aiming to raise $1bn for it in order to provide funding for “global leaders in the financial technology industry”.
Patwardhan will also work with the company’s fund of funds, formed in 2012 to invest in other venture capital funds.
Prior to CreditEase, Patwardhan spent two years as chief innovation officer at Standard Chartered Bank, assessing the potential of emerging financial and data science technologies. She joined Standard Chartered from fellow financial services firm Citigroup in 2007.
Founded in 2006, CreditEase provides finance to consumers and small businesses, as well as wealth management for richer customers. Its peer-to-peer lending subsidiary, Yirendai, raised $75m when it went public in the US in December 2015.
Ning Tang, founder and CEO of CreditEase, said: “Ms Patwardhan is a distinguished banker with profound understanding of inclusive finance which CreditEase has been fostering and practicing for years. She also has the depth of experience and expertise required to support our fintech agenda.
“We believe that apart from the role of Venture Partner for CreditEase Fintech Investment Fund and Fund of Funds, Ms Patwardhan will also contribute tremendously on other business sectors of CreditEase. We wish Ms Patwardhan a success in her new role and we’re looking forward to continuing to create value for our investors.”