Techfino Raises INR 65 Cr from Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital The fresh funds will be used to expand its secured lending business focused on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in tier II and tier III cities across India.
You're reading Entrepreneur India, an international franchise of Entrepreneur Media.
Bengaluru-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) Techfino has raised INR 65 crore in fresh funding from Stellaris Venture Partners and Saison Capital.
The fresh funds will be used to expand its secured lending business focused on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs), particularly in tier II and tier III cities across India.
The startup plans to deploy the capital to grow its branch network, enhance its technology platform, and scale its Loan Against Property (LAP) offerings for underserved micro-businesses. With this strategic move, Techfino aims to deepen its presence in underpenetrated markets and address the significant credit gap in the MSME sector.
Rajesh Panda, Co-founder of Techfino, said, "Out of the 640 million registered MSMEs in India, 390 million are not part of the formal credit economy. This segment, especially in rural and semi-urban markets, generates an estimated quarterly demand of INR 200,000 crore. With limited presence of banks and large NBFCs in this space, we are leveraging our underwriting expertise and tech-enabled collections infrastructure to bridge this gap."
Founded in 2019 by banking veterans Rajesh Panda (ex-Standard Chartered), Jayaprakash Patra (ex-ICICI Bank and ING), and Ratikant Satapathy (ex-Bajaj Finance), Techfino offers secured loans (LAP) to MSMEs and also education loans through a B2B2C model in partnership with education service providers. The company currently operates across Karnataka, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, and Andhra Pradesh, and has maintained profitability since inception.
Highlighting the role of technology, Co-founder Ratikant Satapathy said, "Our internally developed tech platform integrates multiple APIs to verify underwriting data, resulting in faster loan processing, better risk assessment, and improved operational efficiency."
Ritesh Banglani, Partner, Stellaris Venture Partners, said, "Techfino has shown that it is possible to build a profitable lending business in a high-risk segment through strong underwriting and full tech enablement. We are excited to support them in their mission to empower millions of MSMEs."
To date, Techfino has disbursed over 1 lakh loans and crossed INR 200 crore in Assets Under Management (AUM). With this funding, the company plans to double its branch network, scale loan disbursements, and build a significant footprint in secured MSME lending over the next 3–5 years.
