Finova Capital Pvt., Ltd., a Jaipur based non banking financial company, has raised Series A funding round from the Indian subsidiary of the American venture capital firm Sequoia Capital. The amount raised in the funding round was not disclosed.
Finova Capital is a micro small and medium enterprise (MSME) lending firm which claims to have disbursed about Rs. 45 crores to over 500 businesses so far. The company will use the capital from this first round of external funding to expand its presence across the country and open 10 more branches by the end of 2017- 2018.
The lending firm was started in 2016 by Mohit Sahney with a capital of Rs. 10 crores. They provide home and business loans to MSMEs and currently operates five branches in Rajasthan. They offer loans up to Rs. 8 or Rs. 9 lakhs for up to seven years to small time manufacturers, handymen and service providers such as electricians, plumbers, carpenters and others.
Speaking about Finova, founder and CEO Mohit Sahney said, “A large chunk of India’s MSME market falls into the services sector. And this is the segment we cater to – those who do not have access to capital due to lack of formal documentation, financial literacy or presence of mid-level players.” The startup charges an annual interest of 21% – 25% on the loans they provide, taking into account the borrower’s cash flow as opposed to formal documentation for credit assessment. The company currently works with 10 lenders and turned profitable in their first year itself. They are expecting to end their second year of operations with Rs. 100 crores in assets under management.
Speaking about the investment the Managing Director of Sequoia India G.V. Ravi Shankar said Sequoia is delighted to partner with the team of Finova as they are addressing a critical need gap.