Prime Venture Partners led the $5 million (around Rs 40 crore) pre-series A investment round for rural lending startup Navadhan. The financing included participation from longtime investors Gemba Capital and Varanium NexGen Fintech Fund.
The recently raised capital will be used to expand the business's distribution footprint and fortify the AceN platform.
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“The new fundraise will add tailwinds to our efforts at building solutions to bring such small businesses to the formal economy. We will continue to build it for banks, NBFCs to leverage on the regulatory advantage of priority sector assets,” said Nitin Agrawal, founder, Navadhan.
Their creative, stage-wise supply of several loan products aims to satisfy different credit needs according to their cashflows, which are related to seasonality and micromarket particulars.
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“Nitin, his co-founders, and the Navadhan team have demonstrated an extremely viable and tech-driven model for distribution, underwriting, and robust collections, while leveraging co-lending to achieve meaningful scale,” said Sanjay Swamy, managing partner, Prime Venture Partners.
About Navadhan
The word "Navadhan" combines the words "Nava" (new) and "dhan" (wealth). By facilitating better access to financing, they hope to "augment wealth creation" for underbanked households, enabling them to take full advantage of their prospects for earning income. They aim to bridge the gap that exists in India between traditional SME lenders and microfinance.
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