Amazon has agreed to amass Indian buy now pay later startup Axio, deepening its push into monetary companies in one in every of its fastest-growing markets because it seeks to develop credit score entry to hundreds of thousands of underserved clients.
The US know-how group, which has held an fairness stake in Axio for six years, signed the acquisition settlement in December after finishing due diligence, the Indian startup stated in a weblog publish.
Monetary phrases weren’t disclosed. The Bengaluru-headquartered startup, previously generally known as Capital Float, raised $232 million from traders together with Peak XV Companions, Ribbit Capital, Elevation Capital in opposition to fairness and debt through the years.
The startup, which makes a speciality of offering small-sized credit score to self-employed people and households on the level of sale on main e-commerce platforms together with Amazon and MakeMyTrip, stated it serves greater than 10 million clients and has constructed a mortgage e book of over $260 million.
Axio is amongst a bunch of Indian startups that operates in a market the place conventional credit score entry stays restricted – India has low bank card penetration, and traditional banks usually discover small-ticket loans unprofitable.
The startup tried to deal with this hole by constructing a regulated lending platform that may assess creditworthiness quickly, making credit score choices “inside two clicks and 5 seconds.” However like many different startups within the class, Axio has additionally struggled to take care of its progress. Goldman Sachs-backed ZestMoney, which operates in an identical house and was as soon as valued at $450 million, additionally struggled and eventually was picked by a traditional firm in a fire sale.
Axio is the second startup Amazon has acquired in India, the place it has deployed greater than $10 billion so far. Amazon acquired on-demand video streaming service MX Participant in June final 12 months.
Source link
