It is being reported that Amazon is making an additional investment in an Indian fintech startup called Capital Float, in the amount of $22 million.
The investment is considered an extension of the $45 million Series C funding the American tech giant gave the company in the summer of last year. This means that, in total, the Bangalore-based lending platform has raised $67 million from Amazon alone.
At the same time, Capital Float has raised another $80 million in debt financing, from both bank and other financial institutions. In addition to providing the company funding, Amazon — through its Indian subsidiary — has also partnered with the company in providing loans from within the framework of the company’s platform. Also partnering with Capital Float have been Shopclues and Snapdeal.
Captial Float was founded in 2013 by Gaurav Hinduja and Sashank Rishyasringa, and it has since raised around $110 in equity funding. Apart from Amazon, it has also raised money from Aspada, Ribbit Capital, SAIF Partners, Sequoia India and Creation Investments. It has also raised about $130 million in debt financing.
In the last half year, 50,000 new customers have joined Capital Float, increasing its customer base to 80,000 people, who are spread out across 300 Indian cities. According to the company, it originates around 10,000 new loans every month, and it has made around $170 million worth of loans in total. The vast majority of its loans are considered microloans, and they range from a few hundred dollars to less than $10,000.
The company hope to use the new funding to help it grow dramatically in the coming year. They are expecting to add an additional 300,000 customers and originate nearly a $1 billion in new loans just this year.
Amit Agarwal, who is the country manager of Amazon India, said in a statement that Amazon looks forward to continuing to work with Capital Float. He said that they were really impressed by what the company has accomplished so far, and that he thinks that there is tremendous potential in the country for providing loans to what has been an underserved market.
In the past year, Capital Float has also expanded beyond consumer loans, by providing loans as well to manufacturers, schools, retailers and professionals. It has further created an online payment platform and developed many other types of online systems to help its customers.
Dil Bole Oberoi
