IAN invests INR 4.5 Cr in Fintech NBFC Indium Finance
The company intends to utilize the capital for new customer acquisitions and to expand the team within sales and technology verticals
Indium Finance, a Mumbai-based B2B2B Fintech NBFC platform for distributors, wholesalers and retailers has raised INR 4.5 crore from Indian Angel Network (IAN). The investment round was led by IAN Lead Investors Mr. Sanjay Rishi, Mr. Raman Roy and Manipal Group.
With this newly added capital, the company’s main focus will be to accelerate the acquisition of new customers, build the product platform to offer customized solutions and expand the sales and technology teams. Established in 2019, Indium Finance is the brainchild of its co-founders – Mr. Shalabh Mohan and Mr. Vivek Kumar who have previously worked with MNCs and domestic banks across various verticals including credit products, supply chain finance, working capital solutions, etc. .
The company provides an affordable and accessible financing solution to the underserved community of SME borrowers through their company to bridge the gap between working capital financing options in trading businesses to purchase inventory. Indium Finance also offers innovative digital financing solutions for B2B purchases migrating to online platforms.
The co-founders of Indium Finance, Mr. Shalabh Mohan and Mr. Vivek Kumar said: “A lot is being done in the SME space, yet we believe it has great potential for growth through innovative digital solutions for financial services. We want to enable small and medium-sized businesses that have difficulty accessing timely funding due to lack of security or necessary documentation. The investment from IAN will act as a catalyst to advance our goals. Not only will it help us accelerate our business growth, but also build new product capabilities.”
Mr. Sanjay Rishi and Mr. Raman Roy, lead investors in IANsaid, “We see Indium Finance as an exciting opportunity as the company seeks to bridge the SME finance gap by providing credit and cash management solutions to the distributor, retail and wholesale segments. Being from the banking industry themselves, Vivek and Shalabh understand the lack of suitable financing options for working capital. Hence, their vision to help the SME community will help reduce the debt gap. We are delighted to be associated with such a pioneering company.”
Indium Finance works with several corporate and B2B e-commerce partners, giving it access to 25000+ distributors, dealers and resellers. After being a bootstrapped company for almost four years, the company plans to use the investment to work with new corporate and e-commerce partners to double the aforementioned access in the next six months.
According to the International Trade Association, India’s retail segment was an $833 billion industry in 2020 and is expected to reach $1.3 trillion by 2023. The retail segment comprises nearly 12 million retailers, who are mostly family-owned SMEs.
Based on an IFC survey, the debt gap in Indian SMEs is pegged at INR 19 trillion. It is estimated that more than 20% of this gap i.e. 3,800 trillion INR can be addressed by providing supply chain finance to SMEs.
Indian Angel Network is India’s first and the world’s largest business angel network with close to 500 members worldwide, comprising a who’s who of successful entrepreneurs and dynamic CEOs. With investors from 12 countries, IAN’s presence spans 7 locations, which include cities in India and the UK. The network is sector agnostic and has funded startups across 19 sectors in India and 7 other countries growing global footprint businesses. With an excellent track record, IAN has provided excellent year-on-year cash outflows to its investor members, for the past 12 years. Some of the marquee invested companies include Druva, Spinny, Box8, Uniphore, WOW Momos, Consure, Fareye, NOCCARC, Propelld, Skit.ai among many others.
IAN Fund, an INR 375 crore VC fund is a uniquely differentiated seed/early stage Fund that aims to transform India’s entrepreneurial landscape. The fund invests in innovative companies in sectors including healthcare and medical devices, VR, AI, software as a service, marketplaces, fin-tech, big data, artificial intelligence, agritech and hardware. With this, IAN has created the largest single platform for seed and early stage investments, enabling entrepreneurs to raise from Rs. 25 lakhs to Rs. NOK 50 million.
About Indium Finance:
Indium Finance is a Mumbai-based B2B2B Fintech NBFC that aims to democratize working capital access to SMEs that form part of manufactured goods sales/distribution chains, leveraging its proprietary credit models and technology platform.
Indium Finance works in partnership with Corporates and B2B e-commerce platforms to provide credit solutions (like BNPL) and cash management solutions to the distributor, wholesale and retail segments.
