• Aye Finance

  Led · Grant · Jun 2023

  Aye Finance is a Gurugram-based non-banking financial company. The company has raised about $30 million (Rs 250 crore) in a Series G round. The Series G was led by Singapore’s ABC Impact. ABC Impact is an investor backed by Temasek and Temasek Trust. The article does not disclose other investors, terms or operating metrics. The report appeared as part of coverage of India deals totaling $363 million. Aye Finance is an Indian non‑banking finance company and microfinance lender focused on providing business loans to MSMEs. The company recently closed a EUR 15 million debt transaction with Invest in Visions GmbH. The deal was announced as a debt fund transaction facilitated in collaboration with Agents For Impact. Articles report the amount as roughly INR 137 crore and say the funding will support lending expansion. Coverage positions Aye Finance as one of the leading MFI/NBFC players in India. No operating metrics (revenue or user counts) were disclosed in the sourced articles. Aye Finance operates a digital lending platform that provides mortgage, hypothecation and term credit to underserved micro enterprises, with an average ticket size of $1,800. The company uses in-house technology and analytics to underwrite and deliver financial solutions tailored to small businesses. To date it has disbursed more than $959 million of credit to over 700,000 unorganized businesses and reports over $959 million of assets under management. Aye has a nationwide footprint across 22 states through 395 offices. Financially, revenue grew 45% to $77.10 million in FY2023 from $53.12 million the prior year, and it delivered $9.59 million of profit after tax in the first six months of FY2024. The company plans to go public in the financial year 2026. Aye Finance is an Alphabet-backed, new-age non-banking finance company that provides credit solutions to small retailers. Last month it launched an on-tap BNPL product called SwitchPe to offer credit lines for procurement of supplies. The company says it will use a recently awarded grant to address working-capital challenges faced by kirana stores and expand SwitchPe’s reach. Through the grant Aye will leverage Unilever’s FMCG expertise to make SwitchPe available to a larger number of grocery-store owners, including women. The article frames the effort against the backdrop that kirana stores account for approximately 88% of India’s retail sector. Aye’s collaboration is via TRANSFORM, which combines grant funding, business insight and wider resources for entrepreneurs. Aye Finance focuses on providing customized business loans to the excluded microenterprise segment, using a proprietary cluster-based credit assessment methodology combined with AI to assess credit risk without traditional documentation. Founded in 2014, the lender says it has addressed the credit needs of over 450,000 unorganized grassroots businesses. The company plans to deploy additional capital to support growth and enable inclusion of microenterprises into the formal economy. Management reports a surge in credit applications as businesses rebuild after pandemic disruptions. The current financing is intended to expand lending capacity to meet this increased demand. Aye emphasizes affordable pricing and tailored products for small entrepreneurs.

• Powered by People

  Participated · Grant · Mar 2023

  Powered by People operates a B2B digital wholesale marketplace that connects buyers in North America and Europe with small-batch producers in more than 70 countries. The platform provides financing to makers and offers flexible payment terms to buyers, enabling responsible, sustainable, and social-impact purchasing. PBP works with over 2,500 brands and producers and serves customers ranging from independent boutiques to large retailers such as West Elm, Pottery Barn, Banana Republic, and The Citizenry. The company says it will use new capital to continue scaling its global operations and technology. Founded in 2021 and based in Nairobi, Kenya, PBP has also secured philanthropic support alongside its equity financing. Powered by People operates a B2B online marketplace that links more than 200 brands and over 45,000 artisans from 47 countries with retailers such as West Elm and The Citizenry. The platform provides payment rails, logistics aggregation, a CRM for vendors, and up to 50% advance financing to help makers fulfill larger wholesale orders. Orders on the platform average $1,200 and the business recorded a $15 million annualized gross merchandise value run rate by mid-March, targeting $25 million by year-end. The company is building regional hubs to speed deliveries and expanding vendor tools and senior leadership to scale operations. It also plans to issue an additional $10 million in trader credit before the end of the year, having already extended $5.8 million in financing. Powered by People is a mobile-first B2B wholesale platform connecting creative manufacturing producers and international buyers across home décor, accessories, fashion and beauty. The platform provides online tools, a B2B marketplace, financing solutions and credit lines with flexible payments for SMEs in the handmade and creative manufacturing sector. It enables discovery of diverse global brands, product customization for exclusive retail offers, and secure transactions between buyers and producers in low-income countries. PBP’s brands supply major retailers including Williams-Sonoma, IKEA, Crate & Barrel, Nordstrom and Goop. CEO Ella Peinovich says the company is building a more digital, diverse and transparent future of retail and will use funding to support access for a new class of artisans to mainstream markets.

No current team members are available.