Axio Bags USD 20 Mn from Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund to Scale Lending and Finance Solutions The Bengaluru-based brand aims to deploy the raised funds to expand its lending operations, checkout finance options, and credit products.

Consumer finance startup Axio announced that it has secured USD 20 million in equity funding from Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund.

The fresh funds will be used to support further growth, including scaling lending operations, expanding use cases of checkout finance, and offering more credit products to customers over their life cycles, the company said in an official release.

Co-founders Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja said in a joint statement, "This investment will enable us to further scale our loan book, enhance our checkout finance offering, and expand credit offerings to existing customers. By combining product innovation with robust underwriting and risk controls, our aim is to unlock access to credit for the next 200 million customers across India. We are grateful to have the trust and confidence of our investors in this mission to build out a world-class digital financial institution for India."

Founded in 2013 by Sashank Rishyasringa and Gaurav Hinduja, Axio, previously known as Capital Float, offers pay-later, credit, and personal finance management under one seamless brand experience. The company is on a mission to make credit accessible and affordable for all, leveraging cutting-edge technology to deliver innovative financial products.

Axio has also built strategic co-lending partnerships with leading banks and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs), further enhancing its ability to serve a broad customer base. Notably, over 60% of Axio's customers reside in non-metro areas, highlighting the company's reach.

The recent funding round brings Axio's total equity funding to USD 157 million, in addition to USD 671 million in debt. This follows a USD 50 million equity raise in 2021 led by Lightrock India, among other notable investors.

Abhijeet Muzumdar, Vice President and Head of Amazon Smbhav Venture Fund, remarked, "We are excited to support Axio in their mission to provide accessible and responsible digital credit solutions in India. This investment and our long-term relationship reflect our belief in Axio's ability to provide credit products and will enable them to expand innovative financial services products to more customers while upholding responsible risk management."

As per the official release, the online lending platform claims to have experienced rapid growth in recent years, reaching nearly 10 million credit customers and USD 1 billion in annualised disbursals.

Between FY22 and FY24, the startup recorded a 2.5x increase in customers, a 3.5x rise in disbursals, and a 5x growth in assets under management—all while maintaining a low Non-Performing Assets (NPA) ratio of 2-3%, underscoring its sound risk management practices.