China-based fintech platform Caogen Touzi (CGTZ) has secured RMB2.3bn ($359m) in series D funding from a consortium led by oil exploration and production firm Geo-Jade Petroleum, China Money Network reported today.
Geo-Jade Petroleum participated through an unnamed industrial fund and was joined by a range of unnamed, existing shareholders.
Founded in 2013, CGTZ has developed a range of investment tools for private users and SMEs. Users can also apply for collateral loans backed by assets such as houses and vehicles, while the company also offers consumer instalment credit products in rural areas.
The company said it will be increasingly focusing on rural finance products going forward.
Media company China Media Group previously led a series C round of undisclosed size in April 2017, adding to $156m in series B funding provided by Guangzhou Industrial Investment Fund Management in 2016.
Shunwei Capital had previously supplied $10m in series A capital in 2010.
Jin Zhongkao, chief executive of CGTZ, said: “China has 800 million rural population and it is an untapped market.
“In the past two years, CGTZ has been experimenting with the rural market with products including credit borrowing, consumption finance and industrial finance to fund pesticides and fertilisers.”