Chennai-based non-banking financial company (NBFC) Dugar Finance has raised $5 million (Rs 45 crore) in its pre-Series A round led by HegdInvst, a Category II AIF focused on growth equity investments, per an announcement.
The fresh capital will be deployed across four key areas: strengthening technology infrastructure, advancing analytics-led underwriting and centralised risk systems, and hiring senior talent across critical functions.
Dugar Finance had previously raised $18 million in debt funding led by Swiss-based investor Symbiotics, with participation from leading Indian banks including Union Bank of India and Karur Vysya Bank in December last year.
Led by Ramesh Dugar, Dugar Finance is an impact-driven, non-deposit-taking NBFC with a presence in six Indian states, primarily serving tier 3 and tier 4 markets. The company plans to expand to 10 states over the next three years and aims to grow its assets under management (AUM) from Rs 400 crore currently to Rs 2,000 crore within 3-4 years.
INDIA DEAL MONITOR
Here are the prominent venture capital transactions in India announced from March 29-31, 2026.
| Startup | Headquarter | Investment Size (USD) | Investment Stage | Lead Investor(s) | Other Investor(s) | Industry | Verticals |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dugar Finance | Chennai | 5,000,000 | pre-Serires A | HegdInvst | - | Financial Services | Fintech Lending |
| Fanon | Bengaluru | 1,000,000 | pre-Seed | Kalaari Capital, Gruhas | - | Internet | Social Media |
| Skillsvest | San Francisco | 584,609 | pre-Seed | Plug and Play Ventures | Sascha Mornell | Financial Services | Fintech Lending |
| Kuku FM | Mumbai | - | - | MS Dhoni | - | Media | Digital Media |
| Indifi | Gurugram | 4,300,000 | Debt | BlackSoil Capital | - | Financial Services | Fintech Lending |
| Bacancy Systems Private Limited | Ahmedabad | 4,300,000 | Series A | Sabre Partners, Greenstone Capital | - | Software | Internet of Things (IoT) |
| Cropcoin | Patna | 1,260,000 | pre-Series A | Unicorn India Ventures | Climate Angels | Agribusiness | Agritech |
| Sign3 | Gurugram | 1,500,000 | - | Cedar Hill Capital | Smile Group, Rajesh Sawhney of GSF, Dinesh Agarwal of IndiaMart, Anup Agarwal of Kiwi, Vinay Bagri of Niyo | IT Security/Cybersecurity | AI and Machine Learning |
| Epik | Bengaluru | 1,000,000 | pre-Seed | Info Edge Ventures | - | Electronics | E-commerce |
