IDG, DHFL invest $4m in India's EarlySalary
Indian financial technology platform EarlySalary has raised a $4 million funding round from IDG Ventures and Dewan Housing Finance (DHFL).
EarlySalary will use the new capital to expand its team and improve its software product, as well as for customer acquisition, according to a Livemint story linked from IDG’s website. Including a 2015 seed round, the company has raised $5.5 million since its founding that year.
EarlySalary’s target customers are young professionals seeking cash advances and short-term loans. The company differentiates itself from other fintech start-ups through its ability to lend directly to customers as a registered non-banking finance company (NBFC) rather than simply connecting them to traditional financial institutions.
It establishes creditworthiness in part through information on prospective borrowers’ social media profiles, in addition to more traditional means such as bank statements and credit scores. The company believes basing credit on such alternative factors benefits borrowers in the target age group, who in many cases have not been able to build up a suitable credit history so would otherwise be ineligible for credit.
Customers can apply for loans via EarlySalaray’s app for iOS and Android, which the company claims has been downloaded over 350,000 times. More than 16,000 applicants have been awarded INR220 million ($3.4 million) in loans. The company hopes to grow its loan book to INR1 billion by the end of the year.
IDG is currently investing its third India fund, which launched last year with a target of $200 million. The firm typically invests in technology-focused Indian companies at the Series A and B stages, with particular focus on the consumer internet, software, health, and financial services industries.
In March IDG and Axilor Ventures partnered to form the Frontier Tech Innovators Program, which will discover and fund disruptive technology start-ups in India.
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