Amazon to acquire Indian fintech Axio for over $150M in credit push

Amazon agreed to the purchase Indian buy now pay later startup Axiodeepening its penetration of financial services in one of its fastest-growing markets as it seeks to expand access to credit to millions of underserved consumers.

The US technology group, which has held an equity stake in Axio for six years, signed the acquisition agreement in December after completing due diligence, the Indian startup said in a blog post.

Financial terms were not disclosed, but a source familiar with the matter told TechCrunch that the size of the deal is more than $150 million.

The Bengaluru-based startup, formerly known as Capital Float, has raised $232 million from investors including Peak XV Partners, Ribbit Capital, Elevation Capital in equity and debt over the years.

The startup, which specializes in providing small loans to self-employed individuals and households at the point of sale on major e-commerce platforms including Amazon and MakeMyTrip, said it serves more than 10 million customers and has built a loan book of over $260 million.

Axio is among a group of Indian startups operating in a market where traditional credit access remains limited – India has low credit card penetration and conventional banks often find small loans unprofitable.

The startup sought to address this gap by building a regulated lending platform that can quickly assess creditworthiness, making credit decisions “within two clicks and five seconds.” But like many other startups in the category, Axio has also struggled to maintain its growth. Goldman Sachs-backed ZestMoney, which operates in a similar space and was once valued at $450 million, has also struggled.he was eventually picked up by a traditional company in a sale.

Axio is the second startup Amazon has acquired in India, where it has invested more than $10 billion to date. Amazon acquired the on-demand video streaming service MX Player in June of last year.