Afinit
Category: AI in Fintech
An AI-driven financial platform that provides specialized micro-lending, utility payments, and credit scoring services (True Balance) specifically designed for India's unbanked and underbanked population. Afinit was founded in 2014. The company is led by Cheol-won Lee. Based in Seoul, South Korea. Team size: 200-300. Total funding raised: $170.0M. Latest round: Pre-IPO / Debt. Key investors include ["SoftBank Ventures Asia","Naver","IMM Investment","Mirae Asset Venture Investment","Smilegate Investment","CIM"].
- Founded
- 2014
- Headquarters
- Seoul, South Korea
- Team size
- 200-300
- Total funding
- $170.0M
Value proposition
Enables financial inclusion by leveraging massive mobile behavioral data to provide credit access and financial services to users excluded from the traditional banking system.
Products and solutions
["True Balance App","Alternative Credit Scoring (ACS)","Micro-lending Services","B2B AI Matching Solution","BH-Glossary"]
Unique value
First Korean fintech to obtain both PPI (Wallet) and NBFC licenses from the Reserve Bank of India.
Target customer
Low-to-middle income individuals in India (unbanked/underbanked), B2B financial institutions.
Industries served
["Fintech","Artificial Intelligence","Micro-finance","Banking & Financial Services","E-commerce"]
Technology advantage
Vertical AI advantage processing 10 years of behavioral data from 100M+ users; ACS engine with doubling performance annually.
How they differentiate
Vertical AI advantage with proprietary ACS engine trained on 100M+ users' data; dual PPI and NBFC regulatory licenses.
Main competitors
["KreditBee","Navi","MoneyView","mPokket"]
Key partnerships
["CIM (Credit International Management)","SoftBank Ventures Asia","Naver","Indian banks and NBFCs"]
Notable customers
["100M+ individual users","Local Indian Banks","NBFC Partners"]
Major milestones
["Rebranded to Affinit (Oct 2025)","Secured $75M debt from CIM (2025)","Planned KOSDAQ IPO (2026)","Obtained NBFC and PPI licenses"]
Growth metrics
100M+ app downloads; ~140B KRW ARR ($104M); 500B KRW Valuation ($370M+).
Market positioning
Leading micro-lending and financial inclusion platform for India's unbanked population.
Geographic focus
India (Operations), South Korea (R&D/HQ)
Patents and IP
Patents for 'Method for estimating default probability using generative AI response tokens' and 'Unsecured loan approval amount calculation system using alternative data'.
About Cheol-won Lee
Cheol-won (Charlie) Lee is the founder and CEO of Afinit (formerly Balance Hero). He has over 20 years of experience in the mobile and IT sectors, particularly in content and service planning for emerging markets. Before founding Balance Hero in 2014, he served as the Head of Content/Mobile Service Planning at LG Uplus and was the CEO of Access Mobile. He is widely recognized for successfully establishing 'True Balance' as a dominant fintech platform in India.
Official website: https://www.afinit.com/