Revenue-based financing startup GetVantage bags $5m in seed round

Mumbai-based fintech startup GetVantage said it has secured US$5 million in a seed round raised with a mixture of equity and debt-line, or money it can use for funding businesses.

The funding was led by Chiratae Ventures, with Japanese consulting and business development firm Dream Incubator and other non-banking financial companies and debt funds also participating.

GetVantage founder and CEO Bhavik Vasa / Photo credit: GetVantage

Established less than a year ago, GetVantage provides revenue-based financing (RBF) – a loan paid back with a percentage of the borrower’s revenue – for ecommerce and online businesses in India and Southeast Asia. RBF allows entrepreneurs to raise new capital from GetVantage’s ecosystem of strategic partners without diluting their share.

The company said in a statement that founders typically raise US$25,000 to US$250,000 of growth capital through its platform. GetVantage’s portfolio includes brands across the ecommerce and direct-to-consumer categories such as education tech, business-to-business software-as-a-service, and subscription-based services.

GetVantage said that in the next two years, it plans to expand into new markets across Southeast Asia, starting with Singapore.

“As consumers have shifted online, more companies are looking at how they can take advantage of this digital shift and the vast economic opportunities that come with it,” said GetVantage founder and CEO Bhavik Vasa.

He previously told Tech in Asia that from March through May of this year, the company saw a 70% spike in demand as businesses aimed to boost their digital presence amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

See Also: Is RBF an alternative to traditional loans and venture capital?

Vasa, who was formerly chief growth officer of ItzCash,  founded GetVantage with Amit Srivastava, a tech operations veteran from SBC FinTech and former Brand Capital business head Sachin Tagra.

With its expansion to Singapore, GetVantage is primed to compete with Jenfi, which joined Y Combinator’s accelerator program earlier this year.