Indian fintech Money View valued at $900 million in new funding

Indian fintech Money View said on Monday it has raised $75 million in a new funding round, its second this year, despite the market slump as it looks to scale its core credit business and build more products in the South Asian market.

Apis Partners led Money View’s Series E funding round, valuing the Bengaluru-headquartered startup at $900 million, up from $615 million in a Series D funding round in March. The startup said in a statement that the round hasn’t closed and it expects to raise more capital.

TechCrunch reported in October that Money View was engaging with investors to raise up to $150 million at a valuation of $1 billion. The startup said today that existing backers Tiger Global, Winter Capital and Evolence also participated in the funding.

The eight-year-old startup offers personalized credit products and financial management solutions to customers who otherwise don’t have a credit score and so can’t avail credit from banks and other financial institutions. India’s credit bureau data book is thin, making most individuals in the South Asian market unworthy of credit. As a result, banks don’t offer credit cards or loans to most Indians. Fintechs use modern-age underwriting systems to lend to customers and a maze of regulatory arbitrage — increasingly getting closed — to operate.

Money View is currently disbursing about $1.2 billion in loans, at an annualized-basis, and managing over $800 million, it said. The startup says it has been profitable for the past two years.

“Our performance and growth over the past two years has allowed us to drive our mission of true financial inclusion in India with great success,” said Puneet Agarwal, founder and chief executive of Money View, in a statement. “We are thrilled to have Apis Partners join us in our journey and with their support, we look forward to becoming India’s leading online credit platform with innovative and holistic financial solutions.”

Money View plans to deploy the fresh funds to grow its credit business, broaden its product portfolio with services such as digital bank accounts, insurance, wealth management and hire more talent, it said.

Its new funding comes at a time when the dealflow activity has slowed down dramatically in the South Asian market as investors grow cautious of writing new checks and evaluate their underwriting models after valuations of publicly listed firms take a tumble.

“Money View has achieved great success already, with their credit products democratising the access for millions of customers in India, and we are truly excited to partner with the company at this stage of its journey,” said Matteo Stefanel, Co-founder and Managing Partner at Apis Partners, in a statement.