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UNDER
ENABLING FINANCING FOR START-UPS
Abhiroop Medhekar, Saurav Swaroop,
Co-founders , Velocityage: 38, 32
FAILURE IS THE first step to success but the founders of Velocity, Abhiroop Medhekar and Saurav Swaroop, have lived the idiom as entrepreneurs.
Before founding Velocity, the duo had launched Taskbob in 2015. After raising ₹25 crore via VC funding, Medhekar and Swaroop decided not to raise more capital. The result: Taskbob did not survive the funding winter of 2017.
Cut to 2020, Medhekar and Swaroop created Velocity, a revenue-based financing platform that enables digital-first start-ups access financing products.
The company has so far raised $30 million in equity funding with its biggest investment from Valar Ventures, a New York-based fund backed by Peter Thiel, the former co-founder of Paypal. Velocity is Thiel’s solo Indian investment.
It primarily works with SME-focused lenders such as U Gro Capital, Credible Capital and Trillionloans and builds their loan books online by bringing both lenders and borrowers on the company’s platform. In case a borrower defaults on a loan, 5% of the financial risk is borne by Velocity (fintech provider) while the rest is borne by the lender, says Medhekar, co-founder and CEO. Velocity’s business model is fee-based where it gets a commission of 6% and 10% (depending on the loan size and duration) from the lenders during the course of the loan.
Till date, Velocity has serviced over 4,000 brands and facilitated disbursal of more than ₹750 crore in loans. Its clients include start-ups such as French Crown, Iconic Fashion, Soulflower, Chumbak, IDC Kitchen, Off Duty, Itsy Bitsy, Bear House, and Zlade.
Velocity’s primary product, revenue-based financing, has enabled over 900 businesses, especially, D2C and ecommerce brands, overcome working capital needs. The platform also offers products such as fixed EMI, revenue-based ODs, credit lines etc. Start-up founders who do not want to dilute their equity are the biggest clients, says Swaroop, co-founder and CTO.
The company has achieved 2.2x YoY growth, expanding both disbursals and revenues. It has more than 100% net revenue retention rate and has maintained NPAs at less than 1.5%.
Before founding Velocity, the duo had launched Taskbob in 2015. After raising ₹25 crore via VC funding, Medhekar and Swaroop decided not to raise more capital. The result: Taskbob did not survive the funding winter of 2017.
Cut to 2020, Medhekar and Swaroop created Velocity, a revenue-based financing platform that enables digital-first start-ups access financing products.
The company has so far raised $30 million in equity funding with its biggest investment from Valar Ventures, a New York-based fund backed by Peter Thiel, the former co-founder of Paypal. Velocity is Thiel’s solo Indian investment.
It primarily works with SME-focused lenders such as U Gro Capital, Credible Capital and Trillionloans and builds their loan books online by bringing both lenders and borrowers on the company’s platform. In case a borrower defaults on a loan, 5% of the financial risk is borne by Velocity (fintech provider) while the rest is borne by the lender, says Medhekar, co-founder and CEO. Velocity’s business model is fee-based where it gets a commission of 6% and 10% (depending on the loan size and duration) from the lenders during the course of the loan.
Till date, Velocity has serviced over 4,000 brands and facilitated disbursal of more than ₹750 crore in loans. Its clients include start-ups such as French Crown, Iconic Fashion, Soulflower, Chumbak, IDC Kitchen, Off Duty, Itsy Bitsy, Bear House, and Zlade.
Velocity’s primary product, revenue-based financing, has enabled over 900 businesses, especially, D2C and ecommerce brands, overcome working capital needs. The platform also offers products such as fixed EMI, revenue-based ODs, credit lines etc. Start-up founders who do not want to dilute their equity are the biggest clients, says Swaroop, co-founder and CTO.
The company has achieved 2.2x YoY growth, expanding both disbursals and revenues. It has more than 100% net revenue retention rate and has maintained NPAs at less than 1.5%.
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