Aye Finance raises 25 crore from Hinduja Leyland Finance, Intellegrow and more; In further talks for Round C

Through a securitizing deal facilitated by Vivriti Capital, Aye Finance announced raising Rs. 25 crores. The investors participating in the deal included the likes of Hinduja Leyland Finance and Intellegrow. Last year Aye Finance secured a Rs. 10 crore round of funding also by securitizing part of its portfolio.

Founded in 2014, Aye Finance is a non-banking finance company (NBFC) that lends to the micro and small segment in India. The fintech startup claims to have disbursed over Rs. 500 crore to 40,000 under-served and under-banked grass root businesses. Its current AUM is Rs. 350 crores and the company is looking to disburse Rs. 600 crore by the end of the current financial year. As an NBFC, Aye Finance provides mortgage, hypothecation and term loan services accessible to the MSME sector.

Commenting on this latest fund-raise Sanjay Sharma, Founder and Managing Director Aye Finance said “I believe if India has to rise with a social balance, the micro businesses at the bottom of the pyramid need to be enabled and empowered. But lending to this segment poses innumerable challenges.”

Aye Finance has 72 Branches in 10 Indian states spread across the northern, central and southern parts. They work on a proprietary “Cluster Based Methodology” using alternate data insights to assess the credit worthiness of micro businesses.

Sanjay Sharma further added, “The loan requirements of these businesses ranges between Rs. 50,000 and Rs. 500,000, which makes servicing these small ticket loans an expensive proposition. We at Aye have not only designed our processes and automation at minimum cost but we have also partnered with various lenders, which allows us to offer economical loans, bringing this crucial sector of the economy under the inclusive fold of formal lending.”

Aye Finance earlier raised equity funds from three reputed Venture Capital Funds – Accion International, SAIF Partners and LGT Impact Ventures. The company is also in advanced talks with investors to raise Rs. 150 crore in Series C funding.