Bertelsmann India Investments, a strategic investment subsidiary of media group Bertelsmann, has led a $32m series B round for India-based online lending platform Lendingkart, DealStreetAsia reported yesterday.
The round also featured Darrin Capital Management, Mayfield India, Saama Capital and India Quotient, and consisted of $20m in equity and $12m in debt financing.
Lendingkart’s service allows users to apply for short-term loans. Customers fill in an online form and the capital is supplied by affiliated lenders or lending partners within three working days.
The company will invest the series B capital in enhancing its data science and mobile technology. Avendus Capital was Lendingkart’s exclusive financial advisor for the deal.
Harshvardhan Lunia, co-founder and CEO of Lendingkart, said: “Bertelsmann has strategic insights [in] the fintech space with end-to-end process knowledge and expertise in digital origination.
“Bertelsmann brings a fresh perspective on digital distribution and data driven risk assessment which will help us in becoming the leading lending platform for [small to medium-sized enterprises] in India.”
The round follows a $10m series A backed by Saama, Mayfield and angel investors Ashvin Chadha and Shailesh Mehta in July 2015. India Quotient and angel investor Ashish Goenka had already helped provide an undisclosed amount of seed funding for Lendingkart.