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Fintech lender Aye Finance has raised Rs 125 crore in debt from Dutch entrepreneurial development bank FMO through issuance of Non-Convertible Debentures.
The company will use the funding to bolster its lending portfolio and expand outreach in providing credit, specifically to women-owned microenterprises, the company said in a release.
“While we have women as co-applicants for over 95 per cent of our loans, we believe we can do more in enabling the women micro enterprises of India to bring about a more transformative impact on the economy,” Sanjay Sharma, MD and Founder of Aye Finance said.
“We expanded our branch network this year to Bihar, Jharkhand, Gujarat and Maharashtra which have a prevalence of women entrepreneurship and with these funds from FMO we will be supporting the growth of women led enterprises in these states as well in the other 14 states where we have our presence,” he added.
In addition to providing debt, FMO will work closely with Aye Finance to expand services to women entrepreneurs through a Gender Finance program. This transaction was syndicated and executed by Chennai-based Northern Arc Capital, a debt investor.
“The debentures issued by Aye are particularly interesting as the on-lending will be to micro entrepreneurs, of which half will be dedicated to women entrepreneurs in the financial inclusion area of under-banked end clients,” Linda Broekhuizen, Chief Investment Officer at FMO said.
In the last financial year Aye closed two rounds of equity, raising Rs 380 crore.
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