Indian fintech space has emerged as the next tech powerhouse of sorts for the country, seeing unprecedented growth and capital pouring in. Startups in the fintech space pocketed nearly $9.8 billion in funding last year, among the highest in overall fundraising across sectors. And while 2022 has come up with its own set of global economic challenges, which have severely impact startup fundraising, fintech in India continues to grow.
Four-year-old Lentra is among those fintech success stories from the country, and has now secured $60 million in its latest fundraise. The fintech SaaS platform raised its Series B from Bessemer Venture Partners and the Susquehanna International Group (SIG) Venture Capital, both being existing investors. The round also saw participation from Citi Ventures, a subsidiary of investment banking giant Citigroup,, which elevates the valuation of the startup to just over the $400 million mark.
The AI-based fintech startup helps banks and credit financial institutions to further digitise credit disbursals and help them in various aspects of loan servicing with its extensive suite of digital offerings. Whether it is know-your-customer (KYC) compliance, servicing and collections, or more, Lentra helps cover the lending needs of financial institutions.
Ever since Lentra was founded four years ago by D Venkatesh and Ankur Handa, the startup has clocked a steady rate of growth, and its numbers speak for itself. The pre-pandemic year saw the platform earn $1 million in revenue based on the usage of its APIs, and this year, the amount has gone up to $10 million. Lentra projects this growth to increase tenfold, to nearly $100Mn by 2024.
“We want to help and empower the banks, who are our clients, to lend better, lend completely on a digital platform and improve on all parameters,” said Venkatesh. Its loan tools include Lentra Lending Cloud, which provides-to-use third-party API connectors, a Loan Management System (LMS), and a no-code Business rules engine (BREx). Jts GoNoGo platform helps banks to determine whether they should provide loans to customers once they have applied.
With the current round of funding, the lending software provider is, like its fellow fintechs, eyeing an entry Info the international markets and take on global fintech players. The proceeds for the round will be used to fund acquisitions and enhance its existing products and capabilities.
By March 2023, it aims to penetrate 3 Asian markets – Indonesia, Vietnam, and the Philippines – and make its mark in five overseas markets by the end of next year. These are undoubtedly ambitious goals, but with the steady growth of the fintech market, they are certainly not unachievable.
“With this fundraise, we have a fairly large war-chest and will look at opportunities to buy out talent as well as to revamp our systems, in a bid to better cater to our customers,” Venkatesh, who’s also the CEO, said.
