[Funding alert] Microfinance company Sindhuja Microcredit raises $4M in Series A

Microfinance company Sindhuja Microcredit has raised $4 million from Carpediem Capital in its first private equity round.

Vidura Capital acted as Sindhuja’s exclusive financial advisor, and Vertices Partners and Antares Legal acted as its legal advisers, said a release.

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The company provides access to financial services to bottom of the pyramid households in rural regions across Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, and Jharkhand.

With over a decade of experience in the microfinance industry, Abhisheka Kumar and Malkit Didyala founded Sindhuja Microcredit in 2018, with a vision to help the financially excluded households through efficient, customer-friendly, and technology-driven solutions.

Speaking about the funding, Abhisheka and Malkit, said,

“We look forward to leveraging the experience of Carpediem team to further strengthen our commitment to inclusive growth. We will be using the funds raised to increase our footprint in existing states and exploring new territories as well as for technology advancement.”

Sindhuja started loan disbursals in April 2018, and the company claims that it currently operates 23 branches, with over 28,977 active customers.

With a strong focus on providing financial assistance across rural regions to women entrepreneurs in India, 90 percent of Sindhuja’s branches are in rural areas. According to the company, it is pioneering cashless disbursement and collection in a traditionally cash-based rural economy, and aims to become 100 percent cashless in the next one year. 

For this, the company claims to have put in place a high-quality professional management team, which is aligned to building a large-scale organisation. The company has laid extensive emphasis on leveraging technology to enhance customer experience as well as reduce operational costs.   

Abhishek Sharman, Founder and Managing Director of Carpediem Capital, said,

“We see a clear growth trajectory for Sindhuja Microcredit given the attractive demographics of the rural markets in which it is a leader. Furthermore, the impact that Sindhuja is creating with women empowerment and financial inclusion is extraordinary. We see value in creating this platform with the founders and aim to provide sustainable and increasingly productive financial opportunities to rural areas in India.”

According to National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD), microfinance can grow with self help groups (SHGs). From 2017-18, the number of SHGs in India increased by 1.67 lakh, with a corresponding increase in the savings by Rs 3,477.89 crore.

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