Chinas Fosun RZ Capital backs PerkFinance

Bengaluru-based online platform PerkFinance, which facilitates loans through its lending partners to blue-collar workers, has raised $900,000 (Rs 6.5 crore) in a seed round from China's Fosun RZ Capital and angel investors Eric Bunting, Krishna Vinjamuri and Karan Virwani. PerkFinance, owned by Stay Qurious Ventures Pvt. Ltd, said in a press note that the investment will be used to boost its technology and marketing. Fosun RZ Capital is an affiliate of Chinese conglomerate Fosun Group. Bunting, the founder of private equity firm Overbrook Capital, has invested in more than 26 fin-tech start-ups around the world including Kabbage, Funding Circle and Yapstone. Vinjamuri is an angel investor and was a venture capitalist with investment firms Lightbox Ventures and Sherpalo Ventures. Virwani is the chief executive of co-working space provider WeWork India. At PerkFinance, borrowers can customise the amount (Rs 5,000 to Rs 1 lakh) and tenure (3 to 12 months) of the loan, the company said. Tej Kapoor, MD and head of Fosun RZ Capital India, in a statement: “For a long time, blue-collar workers have struggled with exorbitant interest rates. This needs to change and Perk (Finance) is doing exactly that.”