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Gurugram-based fintech startup, FREED has secured $2.8 Mn in a Pre-Series A funding round led by Inflection Point Ventures. 

The round saw participation from Multiply Ventures, Chandigarh Angels Network, Lead Angels, Hyderabad Angels, The Chennai Angels, and a cohort of high net-worth individuals. 

The fresh capital will be used to scale teams across verticals and build tech stack to create new debt relief products for improving customer acquisition and brand promotion initiatives.

Founded in 2020 by Ritesh Srivastava, FREED helps customers pay off their loans and other related debts through its offerings. It offers an array of services such as personalised budgeting, spend analytics, repayment simulations using AI and ML, debt pay-off strategies and credit education to reduce customers’ debt. 

FREED aims to enroll more than 100K customers in the next two years with an AUM of $500 Mn.

As per the website, the startup has served over 5000 customers, counseled more than 24K customers, and settled with over 55 creditors. It claims to have achieved 57% as an average debt reduction. 

The startup said it is currently building a credit scoring algorithm for prime borrowers by leveraging data on borrowers’ behaviour during the debt settlement program.

Other Deals In India’s Venture Debt Segment 

Venture debt became a popular option during and after the pandemic. The year 2020 was considered the best year for venture debt funding in India. According to an Inc42 report, venture debt funding was increased by 2X in Indian startups from $217 Mn in 2019 to $427 Mn in 2020. 

In April this year, peer-to-peer lending startup LenDenClub launched a corporate venture capital fund named LenDenClub Alpha, which focused on seed and pre-series stage fintech startups. 

LenDenClub has kept aside a $2 Mn-$3 Mn fund for the current financial year to launch LenDenClub Alpha.

In March 2022, Gurugram-based financial services startup Aye Finance announced an INR 75 Cr debt raise from Netherlands-based existing investor Triple Jump BV and Northern Arc. 

During the same time frame, Chennai-based fintech startup CredAvenue secured nearly $135 Mn in its Series B funding round thus, entering the unicorn club. The round was led by New York-based Insight Partners. 

Other investors including BYJU’S and Meesho’s backer – B Capital, and CRED backer Dragoneer Investment Group, participated in the round. 

In 2020, Bengaluru-headquartered consumer lending startup ZestMoney secured over INR 80 Cr of funding from its parent company Primrose Hill Ventures.

Prior to this, the startup raised $56.9 Mn from investors such as Goldman Sachs, Quona Capital, Alteria Capital and Xiaomi, among others, with the last $15 Mn Series B round in December 2019.