Mumbai based online lender InCred has reportedly acquired Fintech platform Qbera.
The acquisition has come as India struggles to cope with the COVID-19 outbreak and associated challenges. InCred and Qbera haven’t disclosed the amount paid for the transaction, however, sources claim the deal may be valued at around $10-15 million.
The acquisition should help InCred expand its distribution channels by leveraging Qbera’s business partnerships. As first reported by the Economic Times, the deal should also help with co-originating loans and InCred may be able to grow its portfolio of consumer loans.
InCred is registered in India as a non-banking finance company (NBFC). It’s licensed by the Reserve Bank India (RBI) and maintains a loan-book size of approximately 2,100 Crore ($275.8 million). It’s one of the largest online lenders in the country, along with competitors Lendingkart and Capital Float.
InCred offers loans to individuals, SMEs, educational loans, and two-wheeler loans.
Qbera is a Fintech platform that mainly issues loans to salaried workers via several lending partnerships, which includes working cooperatively with the RBL Bank, IndusInd Bank and non-bank lender Fullerton.
Qbera previously secured $4.5 million in funding through two different rounds.
Bhupinder Singh, founder and CEO at InCred stated:
“We have built … risk management, technology and analytics capabilities across different asset classes like education, MSME and Consumer loans.
Aditya Kumar, founder and CEO at Qbera, remarked:
“Being a part of InCred provides Qbera critical cross-functional expertise… Having access to risk and technology capabilities will play a vital role in scaling the business, especially in a post-Covid world.”
Local sources claim that Qbera had been “in stress for quite some time and was out in the market for [a potential] acquisition since late last year.” They added that the company had been holding discussions with InCred since February of this year.
They also mentioned:
“It’s unlikely that InCred is spending anything significant for acquiring Qbera. It’s also highly unlikely that InCred would absorb Qbera’s workforce completely in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.”
