Indian FinTech Early Salary Closes at $110 Million
FinTech consumer lender EarlySalary raised $110 million in a Series D funding round, the largest amount the startup has raised since it was founded in Pune, India in 2015.
The round was led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners, with participation from existing investor Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited. EarlySalary raised $34 million in 2019 backed by Eight Roads, Chiratae Ventures, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited and angel investors, according to a press release on Tuesday (August 30).
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EarlySalary offers affordable financial lending solutions up to Rs. 5 lakhs to working people and also offers buy now pay later (BNPL) services “with a clear focus on education, health and consumer product financing,” according to the statement.
The company also focuses on providing an affordable credit platform to underserved populations, primarily in India’s Tier 3 and 4 cities.
The fresh capital will be used to expand the business over the next 24 months. The startup currently operates in over 150 cities with approximately 1 million customers. The app has been downloaded an estimated 12 million times.
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“We believe in a customer-first approach to providing credit to young middle-income Indians and are grateful for the trust millions of Indians have placed in us. As our customers’ aspirations and credit needs grow, we will focus on continuing to retain their trust and grow with them,” said Akshay Mehrotra, Co-Founder and CEO.
“The funding will not only help us expand our cash business, but also build a range of capabilities to effectively serve a larger segment of customers. We are confident in our ability to continue to innovate and achieve 10x growth in our customer base, Mehrotra added.
The Series D round included a secondary sale, according to the release. Unitus Capital was the exclusive advisor for the transaction.
“EarlySalary’s core purpose is to give financial services access to the core segments. This capital raising enables us to grow and meet our customer ambitions. We believe that we will be able to add significant value to the fintech ecosystem, says Ashish Goyal, co-founder and CFO.
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