MSME Lender Finova Capital Raises $65 Mn Led By Norwest Venture Partners And Maj Invest Finova plans to utilise the funds to further grow its loan book, invest in technology, expand geographically and further its vision of enabling financial inclusion at scale
By Akshit Pushkarna •
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MSME lender focused on NBFC, Finova Capital, announces on Thursday that it has raised $65 million in funding from Norwest Venture Partners, Maj Invest and Faering Capital. The key investment was made by Norwest, who led the investment round by committing $45 million investment to the company. The Jaipur-based financial services company is an NBFC licensed by the Reserve bank of India and was founded in 2015 by Mohit Sahney.
Sahney gained a rich experience in the banking industry prior to his entrepreneurial journey, working with ICICI bank for almost 15 years. In his banking experience, Sahney worked in multiple capacities like credit, sales and business in different parts of the country.
Finova Capital provides loans to customer to micro entrepreneurs and semi-skilled professionals who do not have or have a limited access to lending from formal financing institutions. The loans are tailored keeping in mind the needs of its target segment of small service providers, manufacturers and retailers. Completing seven years in business, Finova has been backed by 34 banks, NBFCs and AIFs. Further, the company has expanded into 180 branches spread across 8 states in west, north and central India, developing a customer base of over 20,000 and loan book worth more than INR 1,000 crore, till now. Finova plans to utilise the funds to further grow its loan book, invest in technology, expand geographically and further its vision of enabling financial inclusion at scale.
The company had last raised a fund of $35 million in a Series C round of funding back in 2020. The major investors that backed the company back in 2020 was Sequioa Capital and Faering Capital. The company reaffirms its stake in the highly competitive lending market, where it is pitted against larger players like Lendingkart and Capital Float.
Speaking about how the company is planning to scale its operations with the fresh funding, Mohit Sahney, founder and CEO of Finova, said, "We continue to invest heavily in our tech capabilities and operations to further improve our goal to help realize the dreams of millions of small entrepreneurs over the next decade. Our processes combined with disciplined underwriting has ensured our resilience to the pandemic while keeping the growth and portfolio quality intact and best in class."
Commenting on the VC's investment in Mohit Sahney's Finova Capital, Niren Shah, Managing Director and Head of NVP India, said, "Norwest is very impressed with Mohit's vision of financial inclusion at scale having created a sustainable business model. Finova has demonstrated best-in-class asset quality, having built a solid underwriting framework with the use of tech and data analytics and has built a low cost, diversified liability franchisee in North, West and Central India."
