Avail Finance raises $9M in Series A led by Matrix Partners India

Bengaluru, 4th June, 2019: Fin-tech platform Avail Finance announced today that it has raised its Series A round of financing of $9M led by Matrix Partners India. Founded in 2017 by Ankush Aggarwal and Tushar Mehndiratta, Avail Finance is building a neo-bank for the blue-collar workers in India. Having already built and tested a micro-lending platform, Avail will use these funds to expand its product suite to also offer micro-savings and micro-insurance products tailored specifically for the blue-collar workers. In March 2018, Matrix India had led the seed investment in Avail Finance along with other marquee angel investors including Binny Bansal, Kunal Shah, Founder of Cred, Bhavish Aggarwal and Ankit Bhati, Founders of Ola and Manish Patel, Founder of Mswipe.

The blue-collar segment in India includes security guards, delivery executives, drivers, housekeeping staff etc, who have a monthly income in the range INR 8,000 - 35,000. This segment is often neglected by the traditional financial services players as cost of acquiring and servicing these customers is too high. Avail Finance partners with various aggregators of blue-collar workers such as Ola, Swiggy, Ecom Express, Quess Corp, etc and provides innovative financial products for such workers. One such product is an interest free, short term loan to assist them during their frequent cash flow problems. Borrowers have the flexibility to leave a tip, if they were satisfied with the service and experience.

Commenting on the fund raise, Ankush Aggarwal, Founder and CEO of Avail Finance said, "Our mission is to provide a financial umbrella to every Indian. While we started with a pure-play lending product, we realized that the blue-collar segment needs a more holistic financial platform. We believe that with our unique combination of customized products and focus on customer experience, we can work towards enabling true financial inclusion, while serving these customers profitably.'

"Low income consumers are underserved when it comes to financial services and pay the higher access cost for basic financial services. Avail offers a unique product combining micro-savings, loans and insurances that help blue collar workers tide over short term cash flow shocks every month. We believe in Ankush's vision and are excited to continue partnering on this journey with the Avail team." said Vikram Vaidyanathan, MD, Matrix India.

About Avail Finance:

Founded in 2017 by Ankush Aggarwal and Tushar Mehndiratta, Avail Finance is a fintech company, focused on the blue-collar segment. Avail has multiple products that are customized to this segment - Personal Loans, Salary advances, savings etc. They also help their customers in understanding the importance of being financially independent. By using machine learning and AI, Avail creates a unique analysis in the backend which helps in achieving what the team truly believes in - access to financial products irrespective of income, geography, age, gender or ability to furnish documents. The startup is backed by Matrix Partners, Binny Bansal, Co-founder of Flipkart, Kunal Shah, Founder of Cred, and Manish Patel, founder and CEO of Mswipe. To know more about Avail Finance, please visit: http://availfinance.in

About Matrix Partners India:

Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with approximately $1 billion under management. Founded in 2006, the firm invests in companies targeting the Indian consumer and enterprise market at the seed, early and early growth stages. Matrix India has invested in several market leading companies such as Ola (local transportation), Quikr (online classifieds), Practo (digital health platform), Dailyhunt (mobile local language platform), Treebo (digital hotel chain), Limeroad (social e-commerce platform), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Business Finance (SME lending), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace), Vogo (scooter sharing), Razorpay (payments), and ZipLoan (small business lending) among others. Matrix India has advisory offices in Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India, with approximately $5 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in