Fintech Startup Fetches Funding From SAIF Partners
CashFlo, India’s first integrated, multi-funder marketplace has raised $3.3 Mn in series A funding from SAIF Partners, and select angel investors that include Ashish Iyer (previously Sr. Partner at BCG) and Arpan Sheth (Partner at Bain & Co Managing Director, Bain & Co. ) among others. Targeting a $100+ billion untapped category in SME lending market that’s currently operating in a highly-traditional manner, Cashflo is on a mission to solve one of the biggest pain points of businesses in India and globally – that of access to affordable credit.
Currently present in the top 7 metro cities in India, Cashflo is catering to SMEs across 30+ cities. The infusion of new funds will further be utilized for business expansion, platform enhancement and building a high calibre team to champion their robust growth plans. They are aiming to expand to about 75 employees in the next 24 months.
Incorporated in September 2017, Cashflo helps sellers undertake invoice discounting through their exchange, and get early payments to manage their working capital needs while Buyers improve their EBITDA margins or optimize their working capital by extending payables days, creating a win-win situation for all. To implement this, Cashflo ties up with anchor corporates and rolls out supply chain financing program for their entire base of vendors and dealer/distributors – MSME and non-MSME. Unlike traditional solutions that typically leverage a single source of funding – either a financial institution or buyer’s own treasury surplus, Cashflo takes a holistic, integrated marketplace approach giving buyers, for the first time ever, the flexibility to decide their funding mix across multiple sources while funding the sellers. This unique multi-funder model with stock-exchange like dynamic pricing, ensures coverage of the entire supply chain and enables even the smallest SME to access funds at 1-click on their phones on their own terms.
Ankur Bhageria, Co-Founder & CEO, Cashflo opined, “As an organisation, we are focused on democratizing access to credit in the SME space and tapping into new sources of liquidity for the credit economy, while building a holistic ecosystem for the businesses on our platform in the long run. ”
He added, “Investment from SAIF Partners is a validation of the market opportunity and a testament to the hard work gone in to build this business so far. We are excited to partner with SAIF and be able to leverage their expertise and know-how, especially in financial services, in this next phase of growth. This round gives us the necessary fuel to become one of India’s leading supply chain financing platforms in the years to come.”
Announcing the investment Mridul Arora, Managing Director, SAIF Partners said, “We are delighted to partner with Cashflo which is riding on the massive tailwind of supply chains getting more organised & consolidated; with eventual un-bundling of credit. We, at SAIF Partners, have a strong belief in the founding team’s vision of creating a multi-product , highly liquid and value-accretive credit platform ”.
Presently working with India’s leading corporate houses like the Tata Group, Aditya Birla Group, Bajaj Group and large corporates across sectors such as auto, retail, pharma, capital goods, textiles, logistics, and services among others, the company has garnered an order book of over Rs. 10,000 Crores of throughput from its existing contracts, making it the fastest growing platform in the country in just 2 years of active operations.