Norwest leads Series E for Indian NBFC Veritas Finance

Existing investors Lok Capital and an angel investor also participated. Kedaara Capital joined as a new investor while Sarva Capital exited through a secondary sale.

Previously, Norwest led a INR2 billion Series D round for the financier in 2018. UK-based development finance institution CDC Group is another investor in the company. Last year, Veritas also raised INR800 million in non-convertible debentures from BlueOrchard Finance, an impact investment manager owned by Schroders.

Founded in 2015 by financial services veteran D. Arulmany, Veritas provides short-term loans for working capital, medium-term loans for business expansion and housing loans. The goal is to increase access to credit for MSMEs that fail to get adequate financial support from the country’s heavily regulated banks. Veritas claims there are more than 60 million MSMEs that collectively ensure employment for a majority of the population.

The company, headquartered in the southern Indian city of Chennai, has a loan book of INR13 billion and a customer base of over 48,000 MSMEs across eight states in India, according to a statement. It employs more than 1,500 people across 200 branches. 

“We have been delighted with our partnership with Veritas over the last 15 months and are excited to double our investment in Veritas Finance by allocating an additional INR2 billion in this round,” said Shiv Chaudhary, a managing director at Norwest Venture Partners.

In India, Norwest has also backed two other NBFCs in Ess Kay Fincorp and Five Star Business Finance. Recent investments in the country also include smart financing provider OfBusiness and MindTickle, an online sales enablement platform. Norwest, headquartered in the US, closed a $2 billion global VC fund towards the end of 2019.

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• Topics
• South Asia
• Financials
• Expansion
• India
• Norwest Venture Partners
• NBFCs