Mumbai: In a first for the Indian market, SVB Financial Group, has begun non-banking venture lending operations through its subsidiary SVB India Finance Pvt Ltd. Venture lending, which refers to financial institutions providing debt capital to VC-backed companies, is a new concept in India and currently not offered by other institutions.

SVB plans to partner with VC firms in India to lend to venture-backed local companies in the early and growth stages. The firm will be headed by managing director Ajay Hattangdi, and Ash Lilani, president, India and China, SVB Financial Group, will act as chief executive.

SVB, which focuses exclusively on banking venture capital firms and portfolio companies, opened its India office in 2004. In addition to its latest offering, SVB has a crossborder consulting arm SVB India Advisors Pvt Ltd and co-invests with other venture firms in Indian companies out of its $54 million fund SVB India Capital Partners.

So far, it has invested in a dozen companies including Bangalore-based construction company Geodesic Techniques Pvt Ltd and Gurgaon-based remote desktop assistance company iYogi Technical Services Pvt Ltd.