ZipLoan, a New Delhi-based fintech lending platform that provides loans to MSMEs, has raised a Rs 15 crore debt funding from Stride Ventures, a venture debt fund firm.
According to a statement from Stride Ventures, this is its first foray into fintech lending and the funding will be disbursed across two tranches. The firm believes this funding underlines its commitment to leverage traditional banking capital to cater to the startup ecosystem.
ZipLoan caters to the need of working capital loans for kirana stores and micro-industries. Its proprietary ZipScore platform, that tests creditworthiness of a borrower, has so far helped it maintain its non-performing assets (NPA) at under 3 percent, according to the statement.
Speaking about the investment, Ishpreet Gandhi, Founder and Managing Partner, Stride Ventures, said, “It is our endeavour at Stride to make credit accessible and efficient as we try to prevent equity dilution and make entrepreneurs truly ‘Atmanirbhar’. The company has exhibited tremendous growth without compromising the quality of the loan book. We are confident that the company will continue to scale even in these challenging times.”
Kshitij Puri, Co-founder and CEO, ZipLoan, said, “The MSME segment is the most important contributor to our economy, but still continues to be credit starved. Even during the current crisis, the MSME segment has shown great resilience demonstrated by strong collections we have had.”
Founded in 2015 by Kshitij Puri and Shalabh Singhal, ZipLoan is backed by institutional equity investors that include SAIF Partners, Matrix Partners and Waterbridge Ventures.
Ziploan claims that it has disbursed around Rs 400 crore across 10,000 borrowers till now. The startup has presence in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Indore, Jaipur, Lucknow, and Dehradun.
–AN
