Venture capital debt providers lend to start-ups and small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the range of Rs.5-25 crore per transaction at an interest rate of 15-17%. Photo: Mint
Mumbai: Indian start-ups, which typically raise equity from venture capital funds, are increasingly attracting non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), angel investors and even companies that provide working capital loans.
Take the case of Silicon Valley Bank India Finance Pvt. Ltd (SVB India Finance), a NBFC, which has lent money to 75 Indian start-ups since its inception in 2009. Its clients include e-commerce platform Snapdeal.com, owned by Jasper Infotech Pvt. Ltd, Loylty Rewardz Management Pvt. Ltd and Freecharge.com.
SVB India Finance, which has a loan book of around $100 million, was acquired last week by the Singapore government’s investment arm Temasek Holdings Pvt. Ltd that focuses on lending to start-ups.
SVB India Finance is “seeing the best pipeline to date as we have already funded three companies in January and are talking to 14-15 companies for investments,” said Vinod Murali, its managing director.
