IFMR Capital to raise $50 mn funding from Standard Chartered

IFMR Capital today said it is raising USD 50 million from Standard Chartered Private Equity (SCPE), with the first tranche of USD 17 million already completed.
This is close on the heels of IFMR Capital's second institutional funding of USD 25 million raised from Eight Road Ventures in November, 2016, the company said in a statement.
"The fresh round of investment will help the company further strengthen its business in unbanked sectors including affordable housing finance, small business, vehicle finance, agriculture finance, microfinance...," it said.
IFMR said it will also enable the company to bolster its product innovation, and address the capital needs of a growing breed of new-age financial institutions in other sectors.

As part of the transaction, it added existing investor Leapfrog has partially sold its stake in the company. Leapfrog invested USD 29 million in IFMR Capital in 2014 and will remain a key investor.
"SCPE's equity investment will strengthen our ability to work with a much larger number of originators across asset classes in the coming years and make access to financial services a reality for millions of low-income households and small enterprises in India," said Kshama Fernandes, Managing Director and CEO, IFMR Capital.
Founded in 2008, IFMR Capital connects NBFCs impacting financially excluded households and businesses, working in sectors such as microfinance, affordable housing finance, small business finance, agricultural finance, vehicle finance and fintech, with investors in existing and emerging debt capital markets.