Fintech platform Stashfin said on Wednesday that it has raised $100 million in debt from InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital. A clutch of other domestic investors also participated in the round.
The large ticket fundraise comes as a follow up to the company’s Series C round, in May 2022, where it raised $270 million at a valuation of $730 million. Of the $270 million, only $70 million was in exchange for equity from San Francisco-based Uncorrelated Ventures while the remaining was debt financing from companies like Fasanara Capital, with participation from Abstract Ventures and other investors.
Singapore-based Stashfin said it will use these funds to optimise its portfolio for potential securitisation, better its customer experience and further improve financial inclusion.
Tushar Aggarwal, CEO and founder, Stashfin, said, “It is promising to see how our efforts and unique product offering have helped us scale swiftly and benefited all of our partners and stakeholders. The new collaborations will add more velocity to our growth given our robust business model and extensive market demand.”
Stashfin offers its services to over 10 million customers who have limited credit footprints. Ashish Sharma, managing partner, InnoVen Capital, said, “Players like Stashfin are defining a new category by enabling access to funds for under-served segments. We are confident that our partnership will further drive positive growth for the organisation and Stashfin will continue to play a crucial role in the fintech ecosystem.”
Founded in 2016, Stashfin has so far about $430 million in a mix of debt and equity financing from several investors.
The debt funding comes at a time when several B2B commerce, fintech and retail tech companies, among others, have been resorting to venture debt in the past year or so, as equity capital becomes difficult to access, especially at sky-high valuations that startups commanded previously. Indian new-age companies raised a of total $800 million in venture debt in 2022, a 2.6X jump when compared with 2019 where startups had secured just around $281 million, a report by venture debt firm Stride Ventures showed. It was predicted to rise multi-fold in the coming years.
