Consumer lending platform EarlySalary has closed a $110 million series D funding round led by TPG’s The Rise Fund and Norwest Venture Partners. The new funding for the Pune-based startup comes when a couple of startups in the earned wage segment have made headlines with significant funding in their early stages.
Following the company’s most recent financing round in 2019, EarlySalary, India’s largest consumer lending fintech startup, received the largest fund to date. Existing investors Piramal Capital and Housing Finance Limited also participated in the round.
Previous funding rounds totaled $34 million from Eight Roads, Chiratae Ventures, Piramal Capital, Housing Finance Limited, and angel investors. The latest investment will allow EarlySalary to expand its business in the next 24 months. The $110 million series D round includes a secondary sale.
Akshay Mehrotra, co-founder and CEO, said, “The funding will not only help us in expanding our cash business but also build an array of capabilities to efficiently serve a larger segment of customers. We are confident in our ability to keep innovating and achieving 10x large growth in our customer base.”
EarlySalary offers working professionals financial lending solutions of up to 5 lakhs. The fintech startup, founded in Pune in 2015, collaborates with small, medium, and large businesses to provide short-term loans for shopping, travel, education, and medical emergencies. It offers instant loans, personal loans, Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL), and SalaryCard.
The startup faces stiff competition in its segment
Among its competitors are Slice, ZestMoney, LoanTap, PaySense, MoneyTap, and IndiaLends. Its employee financial benefit space competitors include Refyne, Jify, Kaarva, and Daily Salary. Refyne raised $82 million in its Series B round led by Tiger Global in January. Jify also raised $12 million in its Series A round earlier this month.
Ashish Goyal, co-Founder and CFO, said, “EarlySalary’s purpose is to enable financial services access to its core segments. This capital raise enables us to grow and meet our customer aspirations. We believe we can add significant value to the fintech ecosystem.”
According to the company’s website, it has partnered with over 280 corporates and provided financial wellness services to more than 50,000 workers, disbursing over 1,200 crores in salary advances. Northern Arc Capital, Incred, Vivriti, Aditya Birla Finance, and its own NBFC platform, EarlySalary Services Private Limited, are among EarlySalary’s lending partners.
Niren Shah, MD at Norwest Venture Partners, said, “Digital lending is emerging as one of the fastest growing fintech segments in India, and we believe that EarlySalary is well-positioned to serve the credit needs of millions of underserved but aspirational Indians. EarlySalary’s strong growth has been driven by world-class technology, analytics and governance platform, which has resulted in exceptional credit underwriting and asset quality.”
