Snapmint secures $18 mn in a mix of debt and equity to expand its no-cost EMI platform

Snapmint founders Nalin Agrawal, Anil Gelra and Abhineet Sawa

Snapmint, a no-cost EMI and buy-now-pay-later platform, has raised $18 million in a funding round comprising debt and equity led by Prashasta Seth of Prudent Investment Managers, with contributions from Perpetuity Ventures, Pegasus Fininvest, and its existing investors.

The new funds will be used to integrate Snapmint with additional shopping portals, expand its merchant network, and scale up its balance sheet for increased disbursements.

“As an NBFC, a portion of the funds will be allocated for lending. We are also exploring co-lending and lending service provider partnerships with large banks to expand our lending capabilities,” Nalin Agrawal, co-founder of Snapmint, told Moneycontrol.

"The funds will also be used to enhance our technology and product offerings. Initially focused on electronics, we’ve seen partnerships in this segment significantly drive website traffic for merchants. Moving forward, we plan to expand into categories such as beauty, technology, and offline brand collaborations,” he said.

Existing lending partners, including Vivriti, MAS, and ICICI, continue to support the platform, citing low non-performing assets and strong operational fundamentals, Agrawal said. "Our default rate is among the lowest in the industry, at around 1.8 percent to 3 percent across product categories."

Founded in 2017 by IIT Bombay alumni like Agrawal, Anil Gelra, and Abhineet Sawa, Snapmint aims to simplify EMI-based online shopping. The platform offers high approval rates for customers without the need for credit cards, leveraging UPI for transactions. It has over 35 million app downloads, spanning over 26,000 PIN codes across India.

Snapmint has formed partnerships with brands such as boAt, Xiaomi, Croma, and Arvind Fashions, focusing largely on fashion and personal electronics. The company facilitates over 5 million purchase-financing transactions annually.

Agrawal said that the platform clocks around Rs 150 crore of annual recurring revenue (ARR) and will break-even by 2025. “We were disbursing around 120,000 loans annually, and now we’re processing close to 5 million loans a year. This scale has allowed us to clock approximately Rs 150 crore in ARR.”

In October of 2022, Snapmint raised around $21 million in an equal mix of equity and debt from existing investors like Prudent Investment’s Prashasta Seth. The funding round also saw participation from Kae Capital, 9 Unicorns, Anicut Capital, Negen Capital.

“Snapmint has consistently created value for customers, merchants, lenders and shareholders. Just as the offline consumer durable financing market boomed in the last two decades, we see a similar opportunity unfolding online on the back of UPI and e-commerce. Snapmint, with its vast customer and merchant network, is well poised to capitalise on this,” said Prashasta Seth, CEO of Prudent Investment Managers.

Snapmint operates from offices in Mumbai, Bangalore, and NCR mostly targeting Gen Z and Millennial consumers with its no-cost EMI solutions.