Amazon invests in Capital Float

Digital lending firm Capital Float (Zen Lefin Pvt. Ltd.) said on Tuesday that it had raised $22 million in equity funding from online retail giant Amazon. The latest infusion takes Capital Float’s total equity funding to almost $110 million from Amazon and other existing investors including Ribbit Capital, SAIF Partners, Sequoia India, Creation Investments, and Aspada.

Founded by Gokaldas Exports scion Gaurav Hinduja and Stanford Graduate School of Business alumnus Sashank Rishyasringa,Capital Float uses algorithms and sifts through data to find hidden insights to make lending decisions quickly. This ensures efficient and fast turn-around times. The funds would be used to bolster its proprietary end-to-end digital loan origination system and to design innovative credit solutions, the company said.

“With this investment from Amazon, we enter FY19 with a relentless focus to add 3,00,000 customers and originate over ₹5,000 crore ($800 million) in loans this year,” said Capital Float co-founders Gaurav Hinduja and Sashank Rishyasringa, in a joint statement.

In addition, Capital Float said it had also raised debt amounting to $130 million till-date from leading banks and non-banking financial companies. The company said it had enabled large numbers of small and medium-sized enterprises with customised credit solutions and is actively expanding into new customer segments.

“The company is well positioned for the digital age with its strong technology and data-driven approach to lending,” said Amit Agarwal, SVP and country manager, Amazon India, in a statement.