Jul 13, 2018

Photo: Reuters July 13, 2018 Kalaari Capital-backed Rubique Technologies Pvt. Ltd, an online lending marketplace for financial products, is in talks to raise $20-25 million in a round, which will see participation from both existing and new investors, said a senior company executive. “Since 2015, we have raised $10 million. We are now planning to raise more money for scaling up. We have initiated the process and we’re currently in talks with four global players, two from China, one each from Japan and the US. We would take four to five months to complete the entire fund raising process,” said Manav Jeet, founder, managing director and chief executive, Rubique Technologies. Existing investors, including Kalaari Capital and Japan’s Recruit Group, and Russian venture capital management company Emery Capital are likely to participate in the new round. “Kalaari Capital, our partner since Series A has constantly supported and guided us in our journey. We definitely see that strong support in the coming growth story, too. The recent addition of Recruit and Emery Capital in this supporter list, has been another validation for us,” Jeet added. “We are looking for partners who can guide us in creating deep capabilities in this domain and help us to reach the leadership position in the fintech space in loans and cards.” Established in 2014, Rubique uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to provide individuals and small and medium businesses with easy access to finance through loans, credit cards and other products. Prior to setting up Rubique, Jeet had worked with several financial services companies such as HDFC Bank, Citicorp Finance, SBI Mutual Fund, Reliance Capital and Yes Bank. In April, the fintech company had raised about $10 million from Recruit Group and Emery Capital. The company aims to expand its business to other geographies by improving and strengthening its credit lending process with the new round of funding. “We’d like to develop deep technology capabilities to address industry problems at scale. Hence, we are planning to develop and strengthen the credit decisioning process by developing technology underwriting capabilities, scoring model based on alternative data as well as build early signs on fraud and risk. So, our overall efficiency can be increased, costs reduced and preventative measures can be taken to avoid NPAs (non-performing assets),” said Jeet. Rubique will hire a dedicated team of data scientists, underwriters and product managers to work on this initiative. “We will also expand our geographical presence to go deep into various markets and focus on newer consumer segments like the missing middle market.” Rubique has tied-up with over 90 financial institutions and offers different types of loans. The company claims to have been generating ₹3.5 crore of revenue every month by facilitating loan disbursements worth ₹3,000 crore since inception. This article was first published on livemint.com .