i2ifunding, an online peer-to-peer lending platform has raised Rs. 2 crore in its seed funding round from a group of angel investors. The company’s five founders have invested money from their own pocket, along with other “industry veterans”.
The newly received investment will be utilized by the company to expand into the MSME portfolio and to hire fresh talents in the field of technology. It is also looking to get consultants to ensure that our credit evaluation methodology for the self-employed and businessmen is robust and full proof.
This much needed investment for the company comes at a time when Reserve Bank of India has released a consultation paper that requires peer-to-peer lending platforms to have equity capital to start operations.
According to the proposed regulations in the paper, P2P companies must act only as intermediaries and their role must be limited to bringing the borrower and the lender together. The companies will also need to maintain a minimum capital of Rs. 2 crore and not assure returns to lenders.
Vaibhav Pandey, CEO of the company, said,
This round of funding gets us to a comfortable position in terms of the capital requirement that has been set out by the RBI. The five cofounders, who had started the company seven months back, had put in seed investments from their own pockets. With this infusion of Rs 2 crore, our capital requirements ‘ would be comfortably met.
Founded around seven months ago, the platform helps individuals who are looking for credit. Once the user submits his personal details on i2iFunding’s online platform, the company’s credit assessment mechanism decides how much credit the person is worthy of, and then it invites investors to pool in money and lend to the individual at a decided rate of interest.
So far, the company has received 1,200 registrations, with 200 of these as investors who have made investment commitments of ₹1.5-2 crore. The platform claims to have facilitated the disbursal of ₹50 lakh in loans at an average interest rate of 18-23 per cent.
Currently, the company is operating in the NCR, Mumbai and Bengaluru. It plans to expand to 20 cities over the next year. It is also aiming to increase lending activities from just personal loans to salaried individuals at present to business loans for micro, small and even medium enterprises.
