Avanti Finance Completes Series A And Debt Funding Round; Raises INR 306 Cr The platform will use the funds to strengthen its deep tech platform, bolster data science, enhance its product suite and expand the team to enable unparalleled access to affordable credit and financial empowerment to millions of unserved and underserved households in India

Bengaluru-based Avanti Finance, a technology-led NBFC-focused on financial inclusion, on Thursday, announced to have further raised $ 15 million (INR 111 crore) in Series A2 from existing investors Oikocredit, Nomura, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and Dr. K R Shroff Foundation. With this, they have completed their Series A and debt funding round, which raised a total of $ 41 million (INR 306 crore).

Avanti will use the funds to strengthen its deep tech platform, bolster data science, enhance its product suite and expand the team to enable unparalleled access to affordable credit and financial empowerment to millions of unserved and underserved households in India. It will further strengthen its ecosystem to partner with mission-aligned social enterprises and Foundations, financial institutions, business correspondents, and agtech innovators across the country, who can leverage Avanti's platform to serve users in a digital-first manner providing for scale and sustainability.

"The Avanti team is excited and ready to accelerate our mission. We are grateful to our Board and investors for reposing their faith in our unique business model to democratize credit to the next 100 million households and make every loan an impact story," said Rahul Gupta, chief executive officer, Avanti Finance.

Avanti has built a digital platform that facilitates a paperless, presence-less, and cashless approach to lending that will reduce costs and friction for unserved and underserved segments, especially in rural India. Avanti partners with a diverse set of organizations with strong roots in local communities to offer loan products that are hyperlocal and focused on livelihood sustainability. It has built a strong proof of concept in 21 states covering more than 200 districts and further expanding its footprint. Avanti uses its own balance sheet and partners with other capital providers who share the mission of enabling financial inclusion for the neediest, the platform said.

Unitus Capital acted as the exclusive financial transaction advisor to Avanti and Abhiraj Krishna Associates acted as the legal advisors to Avanti.