BACK IN 2015, there was a dichotomy in the four-wheeler segment. While 70% of buyers could easily get loans for new cars, only 3% used car buyers could avail finance. Namit Jain saw this as an opportunity and started Rupyy, a loan discovery platform for used vehicles which helps customers avail loans at point of sale using its QR code, distribution partner app and websites of Rupyy consumer affiliates (e.g. CarDekho.com) through its website.
The business model revolves around a service fee charged to its 40-plus lending partners. It also operates a financing arm that generates interest income. Rupyy has been profitable for past two fiscals and is poised to achieve double-digit bottom line margins by FY25, says Jain. Rupyy sold its services to around 2,50,000 customers in FY24 and has facilitated over $1.6 billion in annualised loan disbursals by collaborating with 35+ financial institutions. Unlike typical lending platforms that connect the buyer with the lender, the Rupyy platform connects the buyer, the lender and the distributor.
Rupyy uses a proprietary machine learning fair market valuation tool and a digital title transfer workflow across thousands of local government authorities. Approval rate is more than 80%. The company registered 63% year-on-year growth in 2023. Revenues surged 51% and hit an annualised run rate of $66 million in December 2023. EBITDA margins touched double digits by March 2024. In 2023, Rupyy also scaled up its new car financing vertical to $500 million in annualised disbursals. — Rajiv Ranjan Singh