SME-focused digital lending platform Lendingkart has acquired personal loans provider Upwards in a deal estimated at Rs 100-120 crore. This comes amidst the Indian government’s crackdown on loan apps, raising uncertainty about the sector.
Upwards offers personal loans to salaried professionals via its automated loan underwriting and disbursement process. Its offering is targeted primarily at lower-income segments that have traditionally been underserved by formal credit lenders. The start-up is backed by Shunwei Capital, India Quotient, and Mayfield Fund, and has disbursed loans of more than Rs 500 crore.
Lendingkart, meanwhile, has disbursed over Rs 11,500 crore worth of loans to more than 1.6 lakh MSMEs in 4,000+ cities in India till date. It is backed by a clutch of investors, including IndiaQuotient, Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann India Investments, Sistema Asia Fund, Mayfield India, and Saama Capital.
With the latest buy, it is spreading its wings into the retail loans space. Prior to this, in 2018, Lendingkart had also acquired KountMoney, a lending marketplace that connects creditworthy borrowers across to institutional lenders.
Commenting on its latest acquisition, Harshvardhan Lunia, Founder and CEO, Lendingkart said, “This aligns with our mission of providing finance to the underserved through robust technology. Upwards has the best-in-class lending capabilities for its target marketplace in providing personal loans. Together, we are embarking upon the journey of improving access to credit to change the face of India’s financial ecosystem by bringing the indigent population on the financial map.”
Abhishek Soni, Co-Founder at Upwards, added, “We are extremely elated to team up with Lendingkart. Upwards has created a strong credit product for the low-income segment. With Lendingkart’s credit, capital and distribution capability, we plan to deepen our presence across the country to bridge the massive credit gap in the personal loan market in India.”
Digital lending has been one of the fastest-growing segments in fintech in the last few years, and is poised to account for nearly 60 per cent of the sector by 2030. As per a 2022 PwC report, the online lending segment will grow by 48 per cent in 2023.
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