Billionloans gets funding from Reliance Capital

Billionloans Financial Services (Billionloans) on Monday said that it has closed a seed funding round of approximately Rs 7 crore ($1 million) from Reliance Corporate Advisory Services, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Reliance Capital.

Billionloans is a technology-enabled financial services company, focused on providing flexible and affordable financing options to individuals and small businesses that have so far found it difficult to access loans from the traditional banking system to meet their aspirations.

V. Balakrishnan, Chairman, Billionloans: "Our goal is to fundamentally disrupt how borrowers are sourced and appraised using technology in the quickest possible manner. This will lead to a dramatic change in access, both for borrowers with thin credit histories and for lenders looking to expand beyond their traditional customer bases."

"The investment from Reliance Capital is a great validation of our business model," said Balakrishnan, who was the ex-member of the Board of Infosys, Chairman of Exfinity Venture Fund and one of the early investors in Billionloans.

According to Billionloans, it will initially focus on loans to SMEs, affordable housing loans, education loans and personal loans.

Speaking at the announcement, Anmol Ambani, Executive Director, Reliance Capital said: "Technology and innovation in financial services are going to play a big part in bridging the gap between aspirations of large number of Indians wanting access to credit on one hand and the ability of companies to build efficient and scalable lending models on the other."

"We look forward to support Billionloans in their vision and partner in their growth."