Matrix Partners India invests in ZipLoan

Delhi, October 25, 2017: Matrix Partners India announced today that it has invested in the fin-tech startup ZipLoan. ZipLoan is a technology enabled NBFC that provides small ticket business loans of up to INR 5 lakhs to micro enterprises and SMEs. The funds will be used to expand the team, enter new geographies and enhance Ziploan's technology platform. Existing investors Sarbvir Singh (former MD, Capital 18), WaterBridge Ventures and Whiteboard Capital also participated in this fund raise.

SMEs are underserved by traditional lenders as they are costly to reach and data availability to risk assess them is scarce. Currently operational in Delhi and Indore, ZipLoan uses its proprietary risk assessment engine with digital data points, called ZipScore, to automate credit decisions. It has also developed its proprietary Loan Lifecycle Management product leading to one of the lowest operating costs in the industry and turn-around time of only 4 days from application to disbursal. ZipLoan has also partnered with IDFC Bank to provide loans to first time borrowers, thus bringing small businesses into the organized finance architecture. It also has debt partnerships with leading NBFCs such as IFMR Capital and Essel Finance resulting in a highly profitable and capital efficient model at scale.

Commenting on the investment, Kshitij Puri, Co-Founder and CEO, ZipLoan, said, "Providing credit access to small businesses is the holy grail of lending which most financial institutions haven't been able to solve. We are excited to partner with Matrix Partners in our mission to simplify access to capital for these businesses.'

Shalabh Singhal, Co-Founder and COO, ZipLoan, added, "The investment from Matrix would help us further invest in automation and in improving our credit scoring algorithms. We envision ZipScore establishing itself as the industry standard SME credit risk assessment tool in the years to come.'

"With 40 million SMEs, SME-lending is a large opportunity, but with tough execution challenges. We believe a cautious, technology-led approach can bring down underwriting and sourcing costs enough to serve the SMEs at smaller ticket sizes. We are impressed by ZipLoan's approach to solving this problem and are privileged to partner with Kshitij and Shalabh on their journey. We believe it's still early days of the India Fin-tech story and will continue to invest in the space', said Vikram Vaidyanathan, Managing Director, Matrix India.

About ZipLoan:
ZipLoan is a technology led small business financing company on a mission to make hassle-free credit available to deserving small businesses. Through its proprietary credit scoring methodology called ZipScore, lean operations and a unique co-lending model with leading banks and NBFCs, ZipLoan is able to provide working capital loans of up to INR 5 lakhs to small businesses at a fraction of a cost as compared to traditional lenders. ZipLoan is currently operational in Delhi and Indore. For more information visit: www.ziploan.in

About Matrix Partners India:
Matrix Partners India is an investment firm with INR 4,500 crore under management. 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), Mswipe (mobile POS), Five Star Finance (SME lending), Razorpay (payments), OfBusiness (credit led B2B marketplace), Credit Vidya (Fin-tech SaaS) among others. Matrix Partners has a global network of funds investing in the US, China and India with US $4 billion under management. Further information is available at www.matrixpartners.in