GetVantage expanding wholesale-lending platform

GetVantage, a fintech lending platform
based in Mumbai, operates a platform to connect institutional lenders to small
business borrowers, using APIs to carve out a portion of a user’s online
revenues to ensure loans are paid back.

It has recently raised $36 million for its
own business, with proceeds going to four things. First, the platform wants to build
its capital base to attract wholesale lenders. Second, it will set up its own
licensed lending balance sheet. Third it will add additional services to
borrowers beyond just providing capital. Fourth, it plans to expand into
Southeast Asia.

“Our raw material is access to dry powder,” said Bhavik Vasa, co-founder and CEO (pictured, right).

Small business lending

Vasa established the company in early 2020
with co-founder and CTO Amit Srivastava (pictured, left). GetVantage has since disbursed
about $16 million to 350 small businesses in India across 18 sectors.

The platform can lend to small businesses
that receive at least part of their revenues digitally, so it caters to
companies in areas such as e-commerce, enterprise software-as-a-service,
fintech, media, and healthtech.

Many Indian small businesses have digitalized
at least part of their business – particularly in the wake of COVID-19. Ten years
ago Vasa was running another startup, ItzCash, an early payments fintech with
ambitions to be the Indian PayPal. It was too early: digital payments were rare
and banks and other institutions would not provide working capital to ItzCash.

Since 2016, Indian commerce has gone digital,
driven by success stories like ecommerce platform Flipkart and the government’s
demonetization campaigns.

“If the previous decade was about consumers going online, the next decade is about small businesses and emerging going digital,” Vasa said. “This will drive the consumption story of India for the next ten years.”

Credit scoring

But these small businesses still lack
access to capital, because traditional banks and non-bank wholesale lenders can’t
assess their credit, or make it economical to lend in small sums.

GetVantage is designed to provide wholesale lenders with both traditional and alternative data on small companies, plus the technology to streamline the process, both for borrowers and for lenders. The platform can support loans for different needs, from $500,000 tickets in working capital to seasonal loans and short-term bridge finance.

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Borrowers agree to integrate their systems via GetVantage’s APIs so the platform has a real-time view of payables and recievables. Such data is meant to enhance traditional data such as tax filings and the accounts.

Digitized collections

But the platform also digitizes
collections. GetVantage’s APIs connect to the payment gateways that a small
business uses for its own revenues. Legally, borrowers give the platform a lien
on their revenues or accounts receivables. A portion of revenues, up to 10
percent over a given period, gets sent to GetVantage automatically.

Payments are therefore paid based on the
business’s performance. If revenues are up, GetVantage gets paid back sooner.
It does not charge interest: instead, it charges borrowers a one-time fee.

Of course, some borrowers may not perform
well, so it could take GetVantage longer to be paid back. But the relationships
between borrower and lender are not direct; GetVantage manages exposures so
lenders have exposure to certain parameters but not to a specific borrower.

It’s up to GetVantage to risk-manage the pace of repayment. Slower repayments hurt its internal rate of return. Vasa says investors can expect IRRs of 16 percent to 20 percent.

Data as collateral

However, in the 18 months since the
platform has been live, only 0.8 percent of loans have defaulted, due to the
borrower going under, Vasa says. So long as there is some revenue coming in via
online payment gateways, GetVantage continues to be repaid.

Moreover its APIs provide it with good
intelligence on how a business is faring, so it is able to manage its own
balance sheet risks. “This is ‘new collateral’,” Vasa said. “It’s better than physical
collateral.”

In extreme cases the fintech can arrange for
a company to pay via a bank wire transfer – particularly when a business is
still getting paid offline.

Businesses that pay back on time or early will enjoy better terms in the next round. And with the APIs already set up, second rounds can be disbursed in two or three days. For businesses, this represents fast cash that is cheaper than venture debt, and does not involve dilutive structures such as convertible bonds.

Expansion plans

With the business building a track record, the
founders have raised money to expand in multiple directions.

First it needs to grow its capital base to
provide comfort to wholesale lending partners, be they banks or non-bank
institutions. GetVantage hopes this will encourage these capital suppliers to
open bigger credit lines to borrowers. Some of its funding may also be used as
collateral to support expanded credit lines.

Second, Vasa says the company is looking to
get a license to operate its own lending portfolio. Right now GetVantage is a
pure platform. But it would like to be able to participate in some deals. Co-investing
is another way to attract bigger capital suppliers – with GetVantage proving it
has “skin in the game” – and to test out new lending segments or products.

“We are now building a regulated division
of the business that would compete for deals,” Vasa said. “It would serve as a nursery
for us to test new products, increase leverage, and reduce the cost of our
borrowing.”

This would also lead to GetVantage providing
small businesses with additional services. Many use short-term money to finance
digital marketing pushes. GetVantage wants to bundle marketing tools, access to
new payment gateways, and logistics tools along with its capital.

“This is like what a venture capital firm
would do manually,” Vasa said.

Not only do new services generate revenues
for GetVantage, but by helping borrowers make the most of their proceeds, the
platform increases the chances that it gets repaid quickly – thus improving its
IRR.

Finally, Vasa says the fintech is keen to
expand into Southeast Asia. It is looking to set up in Singapore and other
markets, although it needs to establish relationships with banks or other
capital suppliers. “India is to prove the model, but the pipes were built for
Asia,” he said.

The latest fund raising was led by Varanium
Nexgen Fintech Fund, DMI Sparkle Fund, and returning investors Chiratae
Ventures and Dream Incubator Japan. Other new investors include Sony Innovation
Fund, InCred Capital, and Haldiram’s Family Office. This is the second capital
raise by GetVantage, which has now amassed a total of $40 million.