Fintech Consumer lending platform, Kissht, has raised $30 million in its Series C financing round led by Vertex Ventures SEA and India and Sistema Asia Fund, with participation from existing investors, Fosun RZ Capital, Ventureast & Endiya Partners, said a statement.
Kissht will use this funding to increase its base of both offline and online merchants, deepen its presence across categories, and further enhance its data and analytics capabilities as it seeks to cement its leadership position in the highly underpenetrated Indian consumer credit market, said the startup.
Founded in 2015 by Krishnan Vishwanathan and Ranvir Singh, Kissht provides purchase financing and personal loans to its customers through a financial technology platform which is integrated with online and offline merchants.
Currently, Kissht is present in over 50 Online and 3,500 Offline points of sale across categories including consumer durables, electronics, health, alternative energy & education, enabling customers to easily access credit for their purchases.
“Taking a loan remains a deeply undemocratic experience in India. Customers not only want a loan, but they want it in a jiffy. Unlike traditional players, on the back of risk algorithms, we have been neither timid nor tentative in leveraging data. We have just scratched the surface in purchase financing. We aspire to create the indelible experience of dignified lending, which will drive customer loyalty,” said Ranvir Singh, Co-Founder of Kissht.
Piyush Kharbanda, Executive Director at Vertex Ventures, said “we see brand new markets opening up in consumer financing in India, and believe that technology will play a fundamental role in addressing this opportunity. However, we feel that it is equally important for lenders to stick to well-understood fundamentals of financial services, such as a strong focus on managing collections, etc. We see a unique blend of these in Kissht, and look forward to working with Ranvir and Krishnan as they continue to envision and build Kissht into a financial services powerhouse.”
Dhruv Kapoor, Managing Director at Sistema Asia Capital, said “India is a credit-starved country with a $140 billion annual credit gap that Kissht is addressing through its proprietary technology and innovative financial products. We are excited to partner with Krishnan and Ranvir in their journey.”
