Billionaire Azim Premji’s family office led a ₹1,000 crore ($106 million) investment in business lending startup Vegafin Capital Pvt. Ltd, ramping up its bets on artificial intelligence-focused firms.

Vegafin will use the funds to build an AI-based lending platform for the nation’s so-called micro, small and medium enterprises, according to a statement on Wednesday. The deal includes the acquisition of Gurugram-based fintech Bizloan, which has over 35 branches across the country and a loan book of $25 million, it said.

Menlo Park, California-based venture firm Norwest and India’s Lok Capital also participated in the round.

The funding is the latest addition to Premji Invest’s $15 billion portfolio, which includes AI and financial services companies. It reflects growing confidence among the country’s family offices and angel investors to back a new generation of homegrown AI-focused ventures even as the nation significantly lags the US and China in investments into AI buildout.

Vegafin founder Bijith Bhaskar, a former partner at Premji Invest, spent over two decades at India’s second-largest private lender ICICI Bank Ltd across retail and digital-banking verticals.

The ambition is to leverage AI and harness data from multiple sources for faster, granular and accurate assessment of small-business credit risk, Bhaskar said in the statement.

Premji, who founded software services firm Wipro Ltd, has a net worth of $25.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. In June, his family office backed a $27 million round in AI verification platform Pramaana Labs. Premji Invest’s global AI bets include Databricks, Canva, Spotdraft and Writer, according to Tracxn Technologies Ltd.

The firm has also invested in local financial providers including wealth management firm Dezerv, fintech lender KreditBee, investment platform Smallcase and the National Stock Exchange of India Ltd.

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Published on October 22, 2026