Annapurna Finance said it had raised funds worth $15 million from Proparco in the Series A2 funding round. Proparco is the private sector financing arm of the French public entity AgenceFrançaise de Développement Group (AFD Group).
The total funding round size will reach $100 million after this fundraising effort. After securing investments totalling USD 30 million from Nuveen Global Impact Fund in March 2021, USD 20 million from DEG in November 2021, and USD 35 million from Encourage Funds, Accion, and existing investor Oikocredit, Annapurna has raised capital four times in the past 15 months.
The Bhubaneshwar-based business said it would use the funds to expand the size of its loan book, make technology investments, broaden its geographic reach, and further its vision of facilitating global financial inclusion.
“With a pan India rural distribution network and a multi-product strategy, it offers micro-credit loans, home improvement, and MSME loans to individuals and small businesses. The fundraise will help Annapurna in strengthening its tech stack to bring in more efficient, automated and paperless financial products to the unbanked and underbanked,” the company said in its statement.
Founded in 2009 by Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik and Dibyajyoti Pattanaik, Annapurna claims to have crossed INR 6,500 crore in AUM. It is present in 20 states across the country with over 980 branches and is continuously expanding.
“We are thrilled to have our existing debt partner Proparco further support us and now partner with us on the equity side. Their belief in our ability to enable financial inclusion across the country and empower women has fortified our commitment to building one of India’s largest financial services companies. We continue to invest heavily in our tech capabilities and operations to further boost the financial inclusion objectives of Annapurna over the next decade and strive to take it towards our larger banking ambitions,” said Gobinda Chandra Pattanaik, managing director of Annapurna Finance.
“It gives us immense pleasure to back the founders, who have meticulously, thoughtfully and consistently built Annapurna, with a strong yet nimble business model that has focused on making financial services and products available to financially excluded people especially women in rural areas of India,” said Diane Jegam, regional director – South Asia, Proparco.
