Bengaluru-based lending startup Avail Finance has raised $9 million (more than Rs 60 crore) in a second round of equity funding from Matrix Partners India. The startup will use the funds to foray into a neo-banking platform.
The startup was founded by Ankush Aggarwal and Tushar Mehndiratta, aims to identify credit-worthy individuals in the Indian population that are currently underserved by formalized lending institutions such as banks and NBFCs, and provide them with a line of credit using an online app that enables access to personal loans in just a few moments.
In simpler terms, Avail Finance provides Indians with an instant online loan app built for them to have access to fast cash anytime, anywhere.
“Our initial experience in lending helped us learn that we need to step back and create a complete product suite so that our customer can live their entire lives on Avail,” said Aggarwal.
Moreover, the firm has started with a personal loan product for employees, partnering Ola, Swiggy, Zomato and Quess Corp.
Also, the company has developed an interest-free loan that protects this customer segment from income fluctuations.
On other hand, in March 2018, the startup had raised $17.2 million from Matrix Partners, along with multiple seed investors like Ola founders Ankit Bhatia and Bhavish Aggarwal, Cred founder Kunal Shah, Flipkart cofounder Binny Bansal and Mswipe founder Manish Patel.