Bengaluru-based debt collection startup DPDzero has raised $7 million in a Series A funding round to enhance its AI-powered debt recovery infrastructure, the company announced this week. The round was led by GMO Venture Partners, SMBC Asia Rising Fund, and Blume Ventures, with additional participation from India Quotient, Sinarmas Group, and other investors. Notably, Blume Ventures and India Quotient are existing backers.
Founded in 2022 by Ananth Shroff and Ranjith B. R., DPDzero offers a tech-enabled platform that helps financial institutions streamline and automate their debt collection processes. Its growing client list includes several major banks and NBFCs such as RBL Bank, IndusInd Bank, L&T Finance, Manappuram Finance, Tata Capital, and Moneyview.
With this fresh capital, DPDzero plans to expand its AI capabilities and build a nationwide network of professional field collection agents, aiming to make debt recovery more ethical, data-driven, and effective. The platform uses behavioral analytics, AI virtual agents, and human-led operations to engage borrowers across multiple channels, segmenting them based on risk and repayment behavior to optimize recovery 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, CEO & Founder of DPDzero.
The startup reports having processed collections for over 10 million borrowers and currently manages active recovery operations for 1.8 million borrowers per month. Over the last 18 months, it claims to have achieved a sixfold increase in revenue, reflecting growing demand for its AI-driven approach in a traditionally opaque and often aggressive segment of the lending ecosystem.
“Over the past decade, GMO VenturePartners has been deeply committed to India’s fintech ecosystem. As the credit landscape matures, collections remain its most under-served frontier. We believe DPDzero is building the foundational collections infrastructure by combining AI, execution-first DNA, and the kind of founder obsession required to disrupt the category. We’re proud to back Ananth and Ranjith as they reimagine collections for India,” said Ryu Muramatsu, Founding Partner of GMO Venture Partners.
DPDzero will begin rolling out its own field collection agent network in Bengaluru, with plans to expand into high-volume lending states like Maharashtra and Uttar Pradesh. The company had previously raised $4.7 million from investors including Better Capital and Anmol Maini Ventures, as per Tracxn data.
