Aye Finance gets Rs 107 crore in debt funding from Swiss-based BlueOrchard

Aye Finance, the CapitalG-backed fintech lender, on Thursday said it has raised Rs 107 crore as debt funding from Swiss-based BlueOrchard.

"BlueOrchard has been supporting Aye in its mission to enable the financial inclusion of micro enterprises since May 2017 and has taken a total exposure of Rs 290 crore in the MSME (micro, small and medium enterprises) lender," according to a statement.

Aye will utilise the latest round of fund to extend affordable and customised credit solutions in the country, it added.

Last month, Aye Finance had announced it raised Rs 125 crore from Dutch development bank FMO. In the current year, Aye has raised over Rs 1,140 crore in debt and equity from entities including CapitalG, Falcon Edge, HDFC, ICICI and DCB Bank, other than FMO and BlueOrchard.

Since its inception in 2014, Aye Finance has provided Rs 2,700-crore credit to over 1.96 lakh grassroots businesses, the statement said.

"This is the sixth round of funds we have received from BlueOrchard, and I believe this demonstrates their comfort with and commitment to our business," Aye Finance Managing Director and founder Sanjay Sharma said.

Lending to micro enterprises has been a less-travelled path for banks and financial companies and, hence, it is satisfying to have established an innovative paradigm of lending approach, he added.

Normunds Mizis, chief credit officer at BlueOrchard, said India is an important market for the company, and it has been actively investing here for almost 20 years.

"We have been working with Aye Finance since 2017. This additional funding is testament to our conviction in the company's mission to bridge the gap between loans offered by MFIs (microfinance institutions) and those available from commercial banks, offering MSMEs across India access to attractive credit solutions," Mizis said.