International investment for UK tech companies gets a boost post-Brexit

JPIN Venture Catalysts Ltd (JPIN VCATS) today announces a lead £700k investment into CreditEnable’s pre-series A round. CreditEnable is an AI-driven SME credit marketplace that uses data analytics and AI to support SMEs in procuring different business loans, helping lenders improve approval rates to above 70%. The investment – leading a £2million raise – will be used to continue the development of CreditEnable’s technology platform and expand the firm’s userbase.

Founded by seasoned private equity and debt investor Nadia Sood (CEO & Co-Founder) and veteran early stage investor Varun Sahni (COO & Co-Founder) CreditEnable is headquartered in the UK, and has been operating in India since 2017. The fintech platform provides SMEs with a free and seamless experience by simplifying the otherwise complicated process of getting a business loan. The platform helps them to manage their credit profile and quick delivery of the best loan for their business at the best rates – all at no risk to their credit score. Lenders using the platform benefit from lower costs when facilitating loans in the SME sector, leading to more profitable growth. CreditEnable has more than 20 lender clients, including major financial institutions in India, IDFC First Bank, ICICI, Bajaj and international financial institutions, Deutsche Bank and DBS.

CreditEnable effectively bridges the gap between the SME loan procurement process – a notorious and lengthy one – and optimising solutions to help lenders grow efficiently. In 2020 alone, $4.5 trillion of available financing didn’t get to suitable borrowers, meaning that today’s announcement is bridging a critical deficit that inhibits SME growth. Recognized as “Responsible Digital Innovator of the Year” at the Global SME Finance Awards 2020, CreditEnable is committed to eliminating the bottlenecks in India’s lending landscape. The company previously raised a $5 million Seed Round from investors such as Cris Conde, former CEO Sun Gard (www.accel.com/team/cris-conde), Alter Global (www.alter.global) and Astia (www.astia.org) and Floreat (www.Floreat.com)

JPIN VCATS is the UK arm for Venture Catalysts, building the largest bi-directional UK-India investment and growth corridor for startups. JPIN VCATS brings an end-to-end expertise and support of capital, mentoring, and genuine business network to help investee companies succeed.

Speaking on the investment, Nadia Sood, CEO CreditEnable, said, “We are delighted that JPIN VCATS has decided to back our growth. The COVID pandemic has accelerated the adoption of digitization within financial services. Getting affordable finance into the SME segment at scale is going to be critical to our global economic recovery and we are thrilled to have Venture Catalysts support to help us to scale our reach in India.”

Gaurav Singh, Founder & Managing Partner, JPIN VCATS said, “The UK-India relationship is at an all-time high and this is a perfect testament to how amazing businesses can grow cross-border while making a meaningful impact on GDP by enabling SMEs with quick and affordable finance. CreditEnable is a very high-quality UK startup and is on a fast trajectory to be a market leader globally.”

Nayan Gala, Founder & Managing Partner, JPIN VCATS added, “Fintech is one of the fastest growing sectors in India and a large number of unicorns are expected to emerge in the next decade. $1.47 billion was invested in the first half of 2020, a 60% increase over the corresponding period in 2019. CreditEnable has enormous potential and has built a technology platform that is scalable across multiple geographies. With a team track record of building a unicorn, and having invested in a number of soon to be unicorn companies at their very early stage, we see the same potential in CreditEnable. The firm is well-equipped to optimize resources and solve for the most relevant gaps in the Indian market, especially in the current, pandemic environment when the demand for business loans is expected to increase. With more than 100 years of combined experience of the founding team, the company has both a strong vision and unmatched skills required for raising the bar even higher. We hope that the funding will help bolster the team’s business vision and empower them to achieve continued success.”