Kreditbee looks to tap private credit funds

"We will have one private round before the IPO. That will be our last private fund raise after which we will prepare for the IPO," said Madhusudan Ekambaram, co-founder & CEO, KreditBee. "The private round will happen within one year from now. After which we will look for the correct market conditions to list, and if the prevailing conditions continue it could happen one and a half years from now."

Ekambaram added that the lender will grow at a strong pace in the current fiscal year.

"We expect 25-30% growth this year, personal loan is the oldest product for us and that is going strong. This fiscal year we would like to develop the business loan and loan against property segments," he said.

With the RBI recently expressing caution against unchecked growth in the unsecured segment, Ekambaram said they will grow with caution.

"Currently, we are treading cautiously after RBI has highlighted its concerns over growth rate in unsecured lending," he said. "We have tapered down our growth targets for the current fiscal year."

In its latest edition of Financial Stability Report (FSR), the regulator had raised the red flag on consumer loans, especially personal loans, where more than half the borrowers are running at least three loans simultaneously. Delinquency levels among borrowers with personal loans below ₹50,000 remain high.

"The regulator is trying to avoid a potential blowup as it has a view of the entire industry," Ekambaram said. "Its actions like hike in risk weight has already brought growth levels down for the industry. Low-rated NBFCs have already seen a capital squeeze, while highly rated NBFCs like us with strong capital adequacy and low leverage are seeing a 50 basis points rise in cost of funds."

For Kreditbee, more than 90% of its loan book is personal loan with a 12-month average tenure.