Paisabazaar has raised $31.58 million (Rs 200 crore) from EtechAces Marketing and Consulting Private Limited, the parent firm of both Paisabazaar and Policybazaar. The funding comes as a part of $78.9 million raised by EtechAces from existing and new investors, which include True North and IDG Venture Partners in October 2017.
Since its commencement, the business of Paisabazaar has tripled every year. The recently acquired financing will be used by the company to revamp its consumer experience with the help of improved technology like machine learning and Artificial Intelligence as well as increase Paisabazaar’s reach. Though Paisabazaar has acquired market leadership in the field of lending products, they have only have a control over 2% of the total unsecured lending market. Over the next 4 years, their aim is to reach 10% of the market. Currently, people from over 750 cities and towns across India use Paisabazaar for their borrowing needs. It has disbursed loans over Rs 4500 crore and issued over 250k credit cards.
Paisabazaar offers comparison services such as credit cards, personal loan, gold loans, business loans, home loans and mutual funds, among others. With their Smartmatch feature, consumers can connect with a fitting financial service provider by understanding their requirements through artificial intelligence and data analytics.
With digitization of the KYC process due to Aadhaar and improved internet penetration, the company is expecting an accelerated growth. Also, dissolution of universal banks coupled with improved credit performance will facilitate the growth of consumer loans. Recently, Reserve Bank of India revealed that consumer loans are rising at 16.6 percent. So, a lot of Fintech companies are trying to connect with consumers even if they do not have any credit history associated with banks.
Paisabazaar is planning to go public by next year aiming to raise its valuation from $500 million to $1.5 billion. It also wants to extend its services like facilitating personal loans, credit cards, and loans against property, to selling mutual funds and healthcare services like doctor appointments on its site.