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DPDzero raises $7 mn Series A to scale AI-powered debt collections

Debt collections platform DPDzero has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round led by GMO Venture Partners, a Japanese fintech-focused venture capital firm, SMBC Asia Rising Fund, and Blume Ventures, which doubled its previous investment. The round also saw participation from India Quotient, Sinarmas Group, and several other investors. The company said the capital will be used to develop DPDzero's multi-lingual artificial intelligence (AI) collection agent and launch a network of professional field collection agents to strengthen collections infrastructure. DPDzero combines behavioural data, AI agents, and human operations to deliver improved collection outcomes. 'Collection has been the ignored stepchild of lending; it's low tech, low intelligence, and worryingly, low ethics, as well. We are building the collections company India has been waiting for — reinventing everything from the ground up, bringing back the dignity it really deserves,' said Ananth Shroff, chief executive officer and founder, DPDzero. The company claims its revenue has grown six times in the past 18 months. It serves as a collections partner for fintechs and non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) including Tata Capital, Moneyview, L&T Finance, and Manappuram Finance, among others. It added that it expects to onboard India's large banks shortly.