Poonawalla, Patni, NMI invest $10 million in Svasti Microfinance
Svasti Microfinance Pvt Ltd, a non-banking financial company-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI), has raised $10 million from existing investors, including Adar Poonawalla, the Patni family
Svasti Microfinance Pvt Ltd, a non-banking financial company-micro finance institution (NBFC-MFI), has raised $10 million from existing investors, including Adar Poonawalla, the Patni family and Nordic Microfinance Initiative, a senior executive at the firm told Mint in an interview.
The round also saw participation from other investors such as Dubai-based family office of Nalwalas, Kayenne Ventures, a Singapore-based investment vehicle led by Kajal and Navin Fabiani, and other high-net-worth individuals (HNIs) led by the Rajiv Dadlani Group.
The Mumbai-based firm was founded Arunkumar Padmanabhan and Narayanan Subramanian.“We plan to grow our loan portfolio to ₹550 crore by the end of this fiscal year and we want to go beyond ₹1,000 crore by fiscal year 2021. We expect to open 125 branches and service five lakh customers by March 2021,” said Padmanabhan. The company also plans to diversify its geographical presence.
“We have a very high concentration in Maharashtra as 75% of our loans originate from there. But over the next year, we look to diversify our presence. Besides Maharashtra, we are also present in
Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh and are adding more cities and branches in these geographies,” said Padmanabhan.
By March 2021, Svasti plans to enter three more states in north and western India and aims to evenly split portfolio across existing geographies, he added.
As of fiscal 2019, the micro-lender had disbursed loans worth ₹322 crore through its 40 branches across four states. It has a total client base of 1.85 lakh of women in urban and semi-urban areas, with more than 95% of loans given under a joint-liability model, in which group members share the responsibility of repayment and default. The lender’s profit jumped 74% year-on-year to ₹3.67 crore during the period.
The company also plans to use the fresh capital to grow its medium, small and micro enterprises (MSME) loan portfolio and provide other financial services, such as consumer finance and insurance, in partnership with other leading institutions, said Padmanabhan.
In 2015, the non-bank lender raised funds from Serum Institute of India’s chief executive Adar Poonawalla, who also invested later in follow-on investment rounds in 2017 and 2018. Its early backers also include Bamboo Capital Partners, previously Bamboo Finance, venture capitalist Sajid Fazalbhoy, and other individual investors.
Till date, Svasti has raised total of ₹ 115 crore.
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First Published:9 Nov 2019, 10:24 AM IST
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