Tanna says the innovative platform delivers financial service to underserved market
India’s largest consumer lending fintech from Pune, EarlySalary, has closed its series D funding round of US$110 million led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners as well as participation by existing investor Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited.
The latest investment will enable EarlySalary to grow its business significantly in the next 24 months, said the company on 30 Aug 2022.
“The funding will not only help us in expanding our cash business but also build an array of capabilities to efficiently serve a larger segment of customers,” said Akshay Mehrotra, Co-founder and CEO.
“We are confident in our ability to keep innovating and achieving 10x large growth in our customer base.
“We believe in a customer-first approach to providing credit to young middle-income Indians and we are thankful for the trust millions of Indians have put in us.
“As our customers’ aspirations and credit needs grow, we will focus to continue to retain their trust and grow with them,” he said.
The company has rapidly expanded its presence from 18 cities to over 150 cities and increased its customer base to 12 million app downloads with approximately one million customers.
It has grown 7x over the last two years and emerged as a market leader in providing financial assistance to young middle-income individuals across the country. The business continues to be profitable over the pandemic and expects to grow manifold in the future.
Ashish Goyal, Co-Founder and CFO, added, “EarlySalary’s core purpose is to enable financial services access to its core segments. This capital raise enables us to grow and meet our customer aspirations.
“We believe that we will be able to add significant value to the fintech ecosystem. This capital raise from two of the most marquee investors is also a validation of our core principles of building a business that is customer-focused, profitable and driving meaningful gains in financial inclusion.”
Akshay Tanna, Partner at TPG, elaborated, “Through its innovative platform, EarlySalary delivers a critical financial service to the growing, yet underserved, middle-income segment in India.
“By providing modest, short-duration loans at competitive rates, EarlySalary is improving the financial health of its customer base and empowering them to finance things like upskilling courses, healthcare needs, personal emergencies, and short-term cash flow mismatches.”
This is EarlySalary’s largest fundraise to date, following the company’s last financing round in 2019. The company had raised $34 million in previous rounds from Eight Roads, Chiratae Ventures, Piramal Capital & Housing Finance Limited and angel investors.
The series D round of $110 million includes a secondary sale. Unitus Capital acted as the exclusive advisor for the transaction.
Founded in Pune in 2015, EarlySalary provides accessible financial lending solutions of up to Rs. 5 lakhs to working professionals. The company expanded into the affordability segment and introduced Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services to its customer segment with a clear focus on education, health and consumer product financing.
EarlySalary’s core purpose is to provide a financial ecosystem for young and aspirational individuals. 80% of Indians use banking services, however, almost 50% of the Indian population doesn’t have access to credit due to various reasons.
The focus of EarlySalary is to provide a safe and reliable credit platform to the underserved population, primarily in Tier 3 and 4 cities, at affordable rates. fiinews.com
