OfBusiness, startup that offers SME finance and SME business loans, has raised INR 250 crore Norwest Venture Partners, a venture and growth equity investment firm. There were also contributions in the funding round from existing investors like Falcon Edge and Matrix Partners. OfBusiness provides loans up to INR 2 crores to SMEs through its own NBFC Oxyzo Financial Services, as well as by partnering with other investment financial institutions like Tata Capital and AU Small Finance Bank, among others. Asish Mohapatra, CEO of Business said, “We strongly believe that lending is a commodity or will get commoditised in the future. The only way to monetise, engage and create network effects in lending is by adding services that are inherently valuable to the customer while being profitable on a stand-alone basis for the financer.”
The infusion of the capital comes at a time when financial service sector is under stress due to liquidity squeeze. Niren Shah, MD and Head of India at Norwest said, “ We are delighted to partner with the OfBusiness team which we believe has built an exceptional track record in tech-based SME lending to the manufacturing and care sector.”
Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix Partners India, said, “OfBusiness team has succeeded in creating a unique model combing conservative underwriting and collections practices with the rapid scalability of its tech platform.”
