TVS’ Home Credit Acquires Varthana Finance To Expand Lending Footprint

TVS VENU Group-led NBFC Home Credit India has approved the complete acquisition of education-focused NBFC Varthana Finance in an all-cash deal.The company did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. 

The acquisition, which is currently subject to regulatory approvals, will help fuel Home Credit’s bid to scale financial services across consumer segments by selling presence across the secured and longer-tenure lending segment. 

Currently, TVS VENU has presence in consumer, retail, and commercial finance through two of its NBFC arms — TVS Credit Services and Home Credit India.

“We look forward to joining forces with TVS as we continue to support private schools throughout the country. TVS’ deep roots, extensive resources and operational excellence will help strengthen our platform, expand our reach and support the next phase of Varthana’s growth,” said Varthana director and executive vice chairman Steve Hardgrave.

Founded in 2013 by Brajesh Mishra and Hardgrave, Varthana offers low-cost, collateral-free loans, with customised EMI options, to private schools and students. 

It extends loans up to ₹5 Lakh under its student loan offering, catering to degree and post-graduate courses, two year pre-university college degrees, certification courses and skill enhancement courses.  

It claims to have served more than 13,000 schools since its inception. The proposed acquisition will enable Varthana to expand its footprint and offer better terms. 

The development comes a year after Varthana raised ₹75 Cr in a debt funding round co-led by B2B ecommerce unicorn OfBusiness and its financial services arm Oxyzo to grow its loan book. Later that year, Varthana also raised ₹159 Cr in debt funding to support schools in building a sustainable and energy-efficient infrastructure.

The startup has raised over $175Mn in funding till date from the likes of responsAbility Investments, Franklin Templeton, Blue Earth Capital, Elevar Equity, Omidyar Network, Chrys Capital  among others.

TVS snapping up Varthana adds to the string of amalgamation developments that happened in the Indian startup ecosystem over the past one week. 

Last week, Inc42 reported that virtual restaurant operator Dil Foods is in talks to acquire Bengaluru-based cloud kitchen brand Fresh Menu in a distress sale. 

Similarly, Mukesh Bansal-led enterprise AI startup Nurix AI announced its plans to acquire Verloop.io to expand its offerings across both voice and chat-based AI solutions.  

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