Non-banking financial company FincFriends Private Limited has secured Rs 98.5 crore in debt funding to expand its operations and introduce new credit offerings for underserved borrowers in India.
The round includes Rs 54.5 crore raised from NBFCs and Rs 44 crore via non-convertible debentures (NCDs), with participation from investors such as IBL Finance, Incred Financial Services, Real Touch Finance, Shine Star Build-Cap, and Western Capital Advisors.
“This funding marks a strategic milestone in our journey to enable accessibility of responsible credit across India,” said Artem Andreev, CEO of FincFriends. “With the valuable trust of our investors, we are positioning our brand to deepen our reach, strengthen fintech infrastructure and develop personalised credit solutions to address the financial realities of underserved communities.”
FincFriends last raised $7.8 million in April last year. The funding included $2 million in equity, $2.8 million in external borrowing, and $3 million in debt from InCred Finance and Grow Money Capital.
Established in 2018, Gurugram-based RupeeRedee, along with its NBFC FincFriends, provides instant short-term personal digital loans.
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The funding comes at a time when fintech lenders specially in the personal loan space are grappling with the sharpest slowdown in unsecured credit since the pandemic.
The slowdown has forced several fintech players to adopt a cautious approach. LoanTap, an NBFC that previously focused heavily on personal loans to salaried customers, has completely paused its personal loan business.
“The personal loan segment was always a good product, but with RBI’s tightening and limited borrowing limits, we had to scale down,” said Bidul Agwaan, senior VP at LoanTap, in an interview. “Until we see positive capital supply, we won’t take book exposure in personal loans. We expect recovery only by Q2 or Q3.”
This strategic shift reflects broader industry challenges. The cost of borrowing has increased substantially for smaller NBFCs, with LoanTap reporting an addition of “close to 200 basis points in terms of the increase in cost of funds” over the past two years.
As a result, consumer-focused platforms like MobiKwik have halted disbursals of short-tenure unsecured loans such as Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), while Paytm and PB Fintech (Paisabazaar) have pivoted towards secured products.
Edited by Jyoti Narayan
