Non-banking financial company Finova Capital has raised $65 mn in funding round from Norwest Venture Partners, Maj Invest, and FaeringCapital.
The firm plans to use the funds to grow its loan book, invest in technology, expand geographically and further its vision of enabling large-scale financial inclusion.
Of this funding, $45 million came from Norwest Ventures (NVP) and the rest from other new and existing investors.
In October 2020, the company had raised $35 million from Sequoia Capital India and Faering Capital, and an additional $20 million from various lenders.
The Jaipur-based firm was founded in 2015 by Mohit Sahney and Sunita Sahney, the company targets client segments such as micro-entrepreneurs and semi-skilled professionals who have no access to borrowings from formal financing institutions. The loans are tailored to the needs of their target segment of small service providers, manufacturers, and retailers.
Mohit Sahney, founder and CEO of Finova, said, “We continue to invest heavily in our tech capabilities and operations to further improve our goal to help realize the dreams of millions of small entrepreneurs over the next decade. Our processes combined with disciplined underwriting has ensured our resilience to the pandemic while keeping the growth and portfolio quality intact.”
The firm is backed by 34 banks, NBFCs, and AIFs. Finova has 180 branches spread across 8 states of West, North, and Central India. It has over 20,000 customers and a loan book of over Rs 1,000 crore.
“Finova has demonstrated best-in-class asset quality, having built a solid underwriting framework with the use of tech and data analytics and has built a low cost, diversified liability franchisee in North, West, and Central India,” said Niren Shah, managing director, and head of NVP India.
“We believe in Finova’s ability to grow profitably while also creating a significant impact,” said David Paradiso, partner at Maj Invest.
“As early investors in Finova Capital, we have had the opportunity to witness the company’s strong growth in the last three years..,” said Aditya Parekh, co-founder and managing director at Faering Capital.