Facebook co-founder Eduardo Saverin’s venture capital firm, B Capital Group, is in advanced talks to lead a Series C round of funding in digital lender Kissht, said two people aware of the development, requesting anonymity.
Kissht is a consumer credit startup, which allows consumers to pay for their online orders in monthly installments, without a credit card. It uses proprietary algorithms to assess the creditworthiness of a potential buyer and processes credit purchases instantly. The digital lender has tied up with over 50 online merchant partners and over 3,000 offline stores, including Amazon, Flipkart, Caratlane, Make My Trip and Uber, according to its website.
“Kissht is in advanced talks to raise its next round of funding. The fintech startup is looking to raise $50 million in this Series C round. B Capital will be leading this round and there could be another new investor who will participate alongside it,” said one of the people cited above.
Saverin’s venture B Capital raised $360 million for its first fund in February. The firm, which is backed by The Boston Consulting Group, invests in technology startups in sectors such as healthcare, financial services and insurance. Eduardo Saverin’s India investments include MSwipe and Hopscotch.
Existing investor Fosun RZ will also participate in the round, he said, adding that investment bank Investec is running the fundraising process for Kissht. “The capital will be used to grow the lending operations and expand its reach to more merchant locations.”
Kissht had raised $10 million in its last round, which was led by Fosun RZ Capital, with participation from Prophet Capital, Beijing, and existing investors Ventureast and Endiya Partners. In 2016, Kissht had raised a $3-million Series A round from Ventureast and Endiya Partners.
Kissht was founded in 2015 by former McKinsey consultants Krishnan Vishwanathan and Ranvir Singh.
Email queries on Friday to Kissht, Fosun and Investec did not elicit any response. Calls and text messages sent to Kabir Narang, partner at B Capital, went unanswered.
Fintech startups focused on retail lending have seen strong interest from venture capital startups. In July, consumer lending startup PaySense had raised $18 million in a round led by Naspers-backed PayU, which also saw participation from existing investors Jungle Ventures and Nexus Venture Partners. PaySense provides users with personal loans for purchases, both online and offline, through affordable EMI plans.
IndiaLends, another digital lender, raised $10 million in July in its Series B round from London-based ACP Partners, with participation from existing investors American Express Ventures, DSG Consumer Partners and AdvantEdge Partners, along with Ganesh Ventures an India-focused Chinese fund.
IndiaLends operates an online marketplace, which allows consumers to access unsecured credit products offered by various financial institutions based on their respective credit profiles.
Last month, Mint reported that Datasigns Technologies Pvt. Ltd, which runs fintech lending platform Shubh Loans, raised $4.2 million from venture capital firm Saama Capital. Shubh Loans’ existing investors, SRI Capital, Beenext and Pravega Ventures, had also participated in the round.
Source: Mint