New Delhi, June 11 (KNN) AYE Finance has raised Rs 147 crore ($21.5 million) in its series C round led by CapitalG (formerly known as Google Capital).Its existing investors SAIF Partners and LGT also participated in the equity round too.

AYE claimed that it was the first finance company to raise funding from CapitalG.

The amount will be used to invest in Aye’s Finance business operations and technology.

Founded in 2014, by bankers Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley, AYE provides working capital and business development loans to micro and small enterprises using cluster-based approach, supported by a proprietary underwriting methodology.

Its operations are spread across 72 branches in 10 states. AYE services over 50 industry clusters in India through its branches, including sports goods manufacturing, hosiery, gota work, marble inlay work, dairy farming, jutti (foot-wear) manufacturing, amongst others.

The company has deployed over 60,000 loans amounting to over Rs 700 crores in the first four years.

Sanjay Sharma, founder and MD, AYE said, “Their (CapitalG) access to Google expertise in scaling businesses using analytics and technology will strongly supplement our approach.”

“MSMEs form the backbone of the Indian economy and contribute a large portion of its GDP; however, they lack access to formal credit. Over the last few years, AYE has proven that their model is one of the most efficient ways to deliver credit to underserved MSMEs across industry clusters,” said Kaushik Anand, India head, CapitalG.

Founded as Google Capital in 2013, CapitalG is a growth equity investment fund that helps technology companies’ scale fast with support from Google’s expertise and resources. CapitalG has backed companies like Cuemath, Cardekho, Practo and Commonfloor in India.