CreditMantri Raises $7.6M in Series B Funding Led by Quona Capital

A vast majority of Indian consumers have limited access to formal credit. The CreditMantri platform was created to bridge this gap between consumers and lenders and thereby make credit possible. Using a combination of traditional data (such as credit reports) and alternative data (such as social media, data from mobile phones etc.), CreditMantri enables consumers to create their credit profile in order to understand their credit potential. The firm has raised $7.6 million funding in series B round led by Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund, managed by Quona Capital along with Newid Capital and existing investors -  Elevar Equity, IDG Partners and Accion Venture Lab. The company has served over 1.4 million users till date with over 60% of users providing access to over 2000+ credit relevant data points in-order to build their credit profile using CreditMantri’s proprietary algorithm. All data is captured or shared only after obtaining explicit consumer consent.

The CreditMantri profile helps users understand their credit potential and this understanding helps them make informed and considered credit decisions. On the platform, users can discover loans, credit cards best matched to the profile from lenders across the risk continuum, resolve and dispute issues on existing loans and borrowings, and reduce current borrowing costs.

On the supply side, CreditMantri provides financial institutions access to better quality consumer risk profiles besides helping these institutions cut down on expensive credit operations processes and disburse loans faster. Consumer demand data on the platform is used to create custom credit products to address unmet credit needs e.g. providing unsecured personal credit lines for new to credit consumers or debt consolidation loans for credit challenged consumers. Rich profiling data results in lenders not having to waste resources on applications which do not meet their credit criteria. Over 40 lenders already use the platform to source consumers, resolve past loan issues and expand into new customer segments.

“Lending in India, and doing so responsibly, is a huge opportunity, and alternative data is the key to unlocking this potential. The digitization of Indian consumers’ financial data, pioneered by CreditMantri, is the catalyst that will help build a truly financially inclusive India. Quona is very excited to partner with CreditMantri team and we have tremendous confidence in the team and the way they are solving this important problem,” says Ganesh Rengaswamy, a Founding Partner at Quona Capital, which manages the Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund.

CreditMantri was founded by three former Citibank executives - Ranjit Punja, R Sudarshan and Gowri Mukherjee. CEO Ranjit Punja says “The richness in the quality of our credit profiles is validated by the uptake and portfolio performance of the tailormade loan products launched in partnership with financial institutions. The response from consumers and lenders has far exceeded our expectations and validates that we are solving a real market need”.

CreditMantri will use the funds to grow its user base, strengthen its’ product proposition and build out the team. Veda Corporate Advisors were the bankers to the transaction. “The funds raised will help us deliver a complete suite of products and services to give the Indian consumer better choice and make credit truly possible” says Ranjit Punja.