Mumbai-based Intellend has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by Incubate Fund Asia to scale its lending-as-a-service platform for MSMEs. The startup aims to embed credit directly into digital merchant ecosystems to address India’s estimated $500 billion MSME credit gap.

A new generation of Indian fintech startups is shifting its focus from consumer lending to the deeper, harder problem of small business credit. Intellend Technologies Advisors Private Limited, founded less than a year ago, is betting that the next phase of fintech infrastructure will be built inside merchant platforms rather than traditional banking channels.

On January 20, the Mumbai-based startup announced it has raised $1.2 million (approximately INR 10.6 crore) in a seed funding round led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from M Venture Partners, Atrium Angels, and angel investor Dhananjay Tiwari. The company said the capital will be used to strengthen its core team, advance product development, and execute its go-to-market strategy.

The funding comes at a moment when policymakers, lenders, and technology platforms are increasingly aligned on one challenge: India’s vast MSME sector remains structurally underserved by formal credit, despite years of digitisation across payments, commerce, and tax infrastructure.

Founded in May 2025 by CEO Brotish Das, COO Som Chatterjee, and CBO Bodhisattwa Gupta, Intellend is building a full-stack “lending-as-a-service” platform designed to embed credit directly into digital merchant ecosystems. Rather than acquiring borrowers individually, the company partners with platforms that already serve small merchants, enabling loans to be offered at the point of need.

The approach reflects a broader shift in fintech thinking. Instead of standalone lending apps, credit is increasingly being delivered as infrastructure, integrated into software workflows that merchants already rely on for payments, inventory, or commerce.

India’s MSME credit gap, estimated at over $500 billion, is driven by a mix of factors: informal operations, limited credit histories, volatile cash flows, and high underwriting costs for lenders. More than half of MSMEs reportedly lack access to formal lending and often depend on informal, high-cost borrowing to manage working capital.

Intellend’s model attempts to address these constraints through embedded distribution and technology-led risk assessment. By integrating with merchant ecosystems and leveraging real-time transaction and cash-flow data, the platform aims to reduce friction for borrowers while maintaining lender-aligned underwriting standards.

According to the company, it has already tied up with merchant ecosystems collectively serving over 100,000 merchants. These early partnerships are intended to validate the core thesis that distribution and data, when combined, can unlock credit access without pushing risk disproportionately onto lenders.

For fintech investors, the embedded lending model has gained renewed attention after earlier waves of consumer lending exposed the limits of growth driven primarily by marketing spend. In contrast, B2B and MSME credit remains large, underpenetrated, and structurally complex.

Incubate Fund Asia, which led the round, said Intellend’s focus on embedded finance and AI-driven underwriting addresses a foundational gap in India’s digital commerce ecosystem. Rajeev Ranka, India Partner at Incubate Fund Asia, pointed to the team’s experience in scaling lending platforms and its emphasis on active cash-flow data as key factors behind the investment.

M Venture Partners echoed that view, framing Intellend as part of a longer-term shift in how credit will be delivered in India. Founder and Managing Partner Mayank Parekh described MSME lending as one of the most difficult problems in Indian fintech, particularly for short-tenor loans where risk management and unit economics are tightly linked.

The founders argue that Intellend’s differentiation lies in its full-stack approach. Rather than focusing only on underwriting or distribution, the platform aims to integrate analytics, risk assessment, and lender workflows into a single embedded layer that can be customised across merchant ecosystems.

The fresh capital will be directed toward hiring across product, engineering, and risk functions, as well as accelerating development of its AI-led underwriting capabilities. Intellend also plans to expand partnerships with additional merchant platforms and financial institutions, and to broaden its product suite over time.

While the company’s immediate focus remains India, it has indicated that select international markets could be explored over the medium to long term, particularly regions facing similar MSME credit constraints. No specific geographies or timelines have been disclosed.

The founding team brings prior experience from global and Indian financial institutions including Citi, Standard Chartered, HSBC, SMFG, Axis Bank, Medical Protective, and Toast Inc. That background reflects a blend of traditional banking risk management and modern embedded finance, a combination that investors increasingly view as necessary for sustainable MSME lending.

In the broader ecosystem, Intellend enters a competitive but still fragmented landscape. Established NBFCs, bank-led co-lending platforms, and venture-backed fintechs are all vying to serve MSMEs, often with differing views on risk, pricing, and distribution. Embedded lending platforms, however, occupy a distinct layer, acting as infrastructure rather than end-brand lenders.

Regulatory considerations also loom large. India’s fintech sector has faced increased scrutiny around lending practices, data usage, and partnerships with regulated entities. While Intellend operates as a technology platform rather than a balance-sheet lender, its success will still depend on maintaining compliant, transparent integrations with financial institutions.

For MSMEs, the promise of embedded credit is less about innovation and more about predictability. Access to timely, affordable working capital at the moment of need can directly influence business continuity, inventory cycles, and growth. Whether platforms like Intellend can deliver this at scale without repeating past credit cycles remains an open question.

What is clear is that investor interest in foundational fintech infrastructure is returning, albeit with more discipline than in previous cycles. Intellend’s seed round, modest in size but focused in scope, reflects that recalibration.

As India’s digital merchant ecosystems continue to expand, the companies that quietly build the credit rails beneath them may shape the next decade of MSME finance. Intellend is positioning itself to be one of those layers, embedding lending not as a product, but as part of the underlying stack.

Mumbai-based Intellend has raised $1.2 million in seed funding led by Incubate Fund Asia to scale its lending-as-a-service platform for MSMEs. The startup aims to embed credit directly into digital merchant ecosystems to address India’s estimated $500 billion MSME credit gap.

A new generation of Indian fintech startups is shifting its focus from consumer lending to the deeper, harder problem of small business credit. Intellend Technologies Advisors Private Limited, founded less than a year ago, is betting that the next phase of fintech infrastructure will be built inside merchant platforms rather than traditional banking channels.

On January 20, the Mumbai-based startup announced it has raised $1.2 million (approximately INR 10.6 crore) in a seed funding round led by Incubate Fund Asia, with participation from M Venture Partners, Atrium Angels, and angel investor Dhananjay Tiwari. The company said the capital will be used to strengthen its core team, advance product development, and execute its go-to-market strategy.

The funding comes at a moment when policymakers, lenders, and technology platforms are increasingly aligned on one challenge: India’s vast MSME sector remains structurally underserved by formal credit, despite years of digitisation across payments, commerce, and tax infrastructure.

Founded in May 2025 by CEO Brotish Das, COO Som Chatterjee, and CBO Bodhisattwa Gupta, Intellend is building a full-stack “lending-as-a-service” platform designed to embed credit directly into digital merchant ecosystems. Rather than acquiring borrowers individually, the company partners with platforms that already serve small merchants, enabling loans to be offered at the point of need.

The approach reflects a broader shift in fintech thinking. Instead of standalone lending apps, credit is increasingly being delivered as infrastructure, integrated into software workflows that merchants already rely on for payments, inventory, or commerce.

India’s MSME credit gap, estimated at over $500 billion, is driven by a mix of factors: informal operations, limited credit histories, volatile cash flows, and high underwriting costs for lenders. More than half of MSMEs reportedly lack access to formal lending and often depend on informal, high-cost borrowing to manage working capital.

Intellend’s model attempts to address these constraints through embedded distribution and technology-led risk assessment. By integrating with merchant ecosystems and leveraging real-time transaction and cash-flow data, the platform aims to reduce friction for borrowers while maintaining lender-aligned underwriting standards.

According to the company, it has already tied up with merchant ecosystems collectively serving over 100,000 merchants. These early partnerships are intended to validate the core thesis that distribution and data, when combined, can unlock credit access without pushing risk disproportionately onto lenders.

For fintech investors, the embedded lending model has gained renewed attention after earlier waves of consumer lending exposed the limits of growth driven primarily by marketing spend. In contrast, B2B and MSME credit remains large, underpenetrated, and structurally complex.

Incubate Fund Asia, which led the round, said Intellend’s focus on embedded finance and AI-driven underwriting addresses a foundational gap in India’s digital commerce ecosystem. Rajeev Ranka, India Partner at Incubate Fund Asia, pointed to the team’s experience in scaling lending platforms and its emphasis on active cash-flow data as key factors behind the investment.

M Venture Partners echoed that view, framing Intellend as part of a longer-term shift in how credit will be delivered in India. Founder and Managing Partner Mayank Parekh described MSME lending as one of the most difficult problems in Indian fintech, particularly for short-tenor loans where risk management and unit economics are tightly linked.

The founders argue that Intellend’s differentiation lies in its full-stack approach. Rather than focusing only on underwriting or distribution, the platform aims to integrate analytics, risk assessment, and lender workflows into a single embedded layer that can be customised across merchant ecosystems.

The fresh capital will be directed toward hiring across product, engineering, and risk functions, as well as accelerating development of its AI-led underwriting capabilities. Intellend also plans to expand partnerships with additional merchant platforms and financial institutions, and to broaden its product suite over time.

While the company’s immediate focus remains India, it has indicated that select international markets could be explored over the medium to long term, particularly regions facing similar MSME credit constraints. No specific geographies or timelines have been disclosed.

The founding team brings prior experience from global and Indian financial institutions including Citi, Standard Chartered, HSBC, SMFG, Axis Bank, Medical Protective, and Toast Inc. That background reflects a blend of traditional banking risk management and modern embedded finance, a combination that investors increasingly view as necessary for sustainable MSME lending.

In the broader ecosystem, Intellend enters a competitive but still fragmented landscape. Established NBFCs, bank-led co-lending platforms, and venture-backed fintechs are all vying to serve MSMEs, often with differing views on risk, pricing, and distribution. Embedded lending platforms, however, occupy a distinct layer, acting as infrastructure rather than end-brand lenders.

Regulatory considerations also loom large. India’s fintech sector has faced increased scrutiny around lending practices, data usage, and partnerships with regulated entities. While Intellend operates as a technology platform rather than a balance-sheet lender, its success will still depend on maintaining compliant, transparent integrations with financial institutions.

For MSMEs, the promise of embedded credit is less about innovation and more about predictability. Access to timely, affordable working capital at the moment of need can directly influence business continuity, inventory cycles, and growth. Whether platforms like Intellend can deliver this at scale without repeating past credit cycles remains an open question.

What is clear is that investor interest in foundational fintech infrastructure is returning, albeit with more discipline than in previous cycles. Intellend’s seed round, modest in size but focused in scope, reflects that recalibration.

As India’s digital merchant ecosystems continue to expand, the companies that quietly build the credit rails beneath them may shape the next decade of MSME finance. Intellend is positioning itself to be one of those layers, embedding lending not as a product, but as part of the underlying stack.