Credit startup ePayLater sees disbursal growth

The startup caters to the last mile in B2B commerce.

ePayLater, a start-up in the SME credit space, has seen around 30% quarter-on-quarter growth in disbursal volumes since the past one-and-a-half years.

The startup, which recently raised $10 million in their Series B round from Zurich-based responsAbility Investments AG, Blue Ashva Capital, Pravega Ventures and other investors, caters to the last mile in B2B commerce, especially between the distributors and suppliers, and kirana stores and wholesalers.

“Food and groceries is an essentials segment, and although there were a lot of supply disruptions in the initial phase of Covid, the segment overall saw a lot of spending, especially at the neighbourhood kirana stores,” ePayLater founder Aurko Bhattacharya said.

According to Bhattacharya, the startup has turned out to be an important ally of the kirana stores during the pandemic time by providing them credit for purchases from their suppliers which in turn meant better fulfilment of orders from their end customers. “We did not see any spike in delinquency as well. The underwriting models held very well during the tenor and the period was marked by increasing volumes with lower risk,” he told FE.

ePayLater provides credit solutions to SMEs spread across more than 100 cities in the country and has disbursed over Rs 1,000 crore in facilitating inventory purchases.