BharatPe plans to disburse Rs 14,000 cr in business loans by March 2023

The fintech company, which is soon expected to become a unicorn, has raised Rs 50 crore in debt from Northern Arc Capital

Fintech company BharatPe, which is soon expected to become a unicorn, has raised Rs 50 crore in debt from Northern Arc Capital, one of India’s leading digital debt finance platforms focused on improving access to finance for under-served businesses and individuals in India.

This is the sixth round of debt financing for BharatPe in the year 2021. In January this year, the company had raised Rs 200 crore from three top debt companies in the country. These included Alteria Capital, InnoVen Capital and Trifecta Capital, having later raised additional capital from ICICI Bank and Axis Bank.

Suhail Sameer, Group President, BharatPe said the firm is committed to bridging the credit gap for SMEs and small merchants in the country. The company has considerably ramped up its lending business in the last year.

“We have set an ambitious target of facilitating disbursals to the tune of $1 bn to over 10 lakh (one million) merchants by the end of current fiscal (FY22),” said Sameer. “We are excited about our latest capital raise from Northern Arc and are confident that, together, we will be able to transform Bharat and serve the needs of the underserved businesses in India.”

In February, BharatPe raised $108 million in a Series D equity round, at a valuation of $900 million.

Through the pandemic in 2020 and 2021, BharatPe has continued to support the credit requirements of its merchant partners. It has emerged as one of the largest B2B fintech lenders in the country. It has already facilitated disbursals of over Rs 1,600 crore to more than 200,000 merchants since the launch of the lending vertical. BharatPe said it now aims to disburse Rs 14,000 crore in business loans by March 2023.

As BharatPe aggressively builds this vertical and rolls out products in the secured lending space, Sameer said the firm will continue to partner with institutional debt providers. This would help empower millions of small merchants in India.

Bama Balakrishnan, chief operating officer of Northern Arc said it has continually worked towards extending credit to like-minded organisations such as BharatPe that enable financial access to small businesses and merchants. “This transaction is a testament to Northern Arc’s commitment towards fulfilling the credit requirement of the under-banked segments of the country,” said Balakrishnan.