Suryoday Microfinance raises an INR 20 crore round led by Aavishkaar Goodwell and Lok Capital

Set up by a team of three ex-bankers - R Baskar Babu, V L Ramakrishnan and Ganesh Rao –Suryoday Microfinance has a portfolio of Rs 115 crore. Since its inception in 2009, the company has built a customer base of 145,000, and targets to cater to one million households by 2014. The company aims to make significant strides towards financial inclusion of people living at the bottom of the pyramid, not merely by providing credit, but through initiatives that focus on increasing the savings habits among the poor, and financial literacy that enables them to move into formal banking streams.

Aavishkaar Goodwell was the first round investor followed by Lok Capital in 2010. Most recently, Suryoday raised equity capital from one of India’s leading mortgage lenders – HDFC Group.

Baskar Babu, CEO, Suryoday Microfinance, said, “Despite the fact that microfinance initiatives are over two decades old in the country, financial inclusion is still a distant dream for many poor people. And, the sharp rise in number of banks or financial institutions has not helped solve this problem adequately. The unbanked, underserved population is in dire need for inclusive growth. This is the reason we, at Suryoday, work towards enhancing the income and asset ownership levels of these people. The measurement of our success is by the percentage of customers moving into formal channels like banks, to utilise both savings and credit facilities. We are happy with the new investment, as this endorses the faith that our investors repose in our model and performance.”

Website: Suryoday Microfinance