E-commerce giant Amazon Inc’s Indian division is seriously mulling to invest $ 5-10 million in SME lending platform Capital Float, according to reports in the media. The capital infusion by Amazon is reportedly part of the recent $45 million Series C funding raised by Capital Float.
As part of the deal, Capital Float will make a maiden entry into consumer financing through a tie-up with Amazon.com, sources claim. If this deal does materialize, it will strengthen Amazon’s presence in financial services space. The e-commerce behemoth already has a stake in online financial aggregator Bankbazaar and gifting platform Quicksilver.
However, Amazon as well as Capital Float have so far remained absolutely tight-lipped about the funding reports.
By picking up a strategic stake in Capital Float, Amazon will look to avail expertise services of one of the most established online financial lenders in building its own native financial ecosystem. Over the years, Major e-commerce players like Amazon and Flipkart have been trying to build its own native financial ecosystem. This has been vigorously pursued in order to offer seamless online payment experience to their customers and augment its presence in the online financial product offerings. Flipkart decided to acquire UPI-based payment startup PhonePe last year with the same purpose.
Capital Float: poster boy of online lending industry
The Bengaluru based financial startup, which is owned by Zen Lefin Pvt. Ltd, has been building a very strong niche in the online lending space since its inception in 2013. As per some reliable financial data’s, the startup has so far given away loans amounting to Rs 2,500 crore to nearly 15,000 customers across nearly 300 cities. By instantly offering unsecured online loans to SME’s and small entrepreneurs – a crucial market that has been left completely untouched by the nationalized and big banks – it has emerged as one of the most dominant players in the online lending space.
The startup’s success in gaining good market tractions has helped in gaining sizeable interest among the investors. It has so far raised $86 million through from various investors, and not surprisingly happens to be one of the most well-funded startups in the online lending space.