Amazon of debt' is how Gaurav Kumar, founder and CEO of CredAvenue, wants his fintech platform to be known. CredAvenue, which has facilitated credit of over ₹1 lakh crore, is a one-stop-shop for debt needs of enterprises, lenders and investors. It helps enterprises raise funds faster by finding the right lending partner while giving banks and NBFCs access to over 3,000 enterprises and 20 lakh retail borrowers. It does not underwrite the loan and claims over 500% growth in enterprise client base over the last one year. Founded in late 2020, it joined the unicorn club in March with $137 million Series B funding from Insight Partners, B Capital Group and Dragoneer Investment Group. The valuation of the Chennai-headquartered fintech has tripled in last six months to $1.3 billion. CredAvenue claims over 350 institutional lenders on board.
The debt market is underpenetrated in India, says the founder. Debt to GDP ratio of India is 60% while that of U.S is 120%. “All developed and developing markets have high debt to GDP ratios. That’s what leads to transformation. But, for that, we need to build infrastructure first, and that’s why I set up this platform,” says Kumar, adding that almost 92% of debt goes to 18-20% enterprises. “We want to transform this space by providing wider and quicker access to credit,” says the serial entrepreneur. CredLoan, one of the products of the company, allows borrowings of ₹5 crore to ₹500 crore for tenures of three months to 180 months.
The platform uses artificial intelligence to match borrowers with lenders. It claims to have reduced deal execution from 97 steps to three clicks by putting the entire workflow online.
The company also ensures that the loans are serviced. “We don’t leave the lender after the transaction. We provide risk management till the last rupee is paid back,” he says. Earlier this year, CredAvenue acquired a 75.1% stake in digital collections company Spocto to expand its offerings. The unified debt marketplace aims to build the entire collection infrastructure to improve asset quality of its banking and NBFC partners. This is Kumar’s fourth start-up after Northern Arc Capital, founded in 2008, Vivriti Capital (2017) and Vivriti Asset Management (2017).
Like most tech players, the platform charges a fee from both the parties depending on the product they use. — Avneet Kaur