[Funding alert] Microfinance company Sindhuja Microcredit raises $8.7M in Series B from NMI and Carpediem Capital

Sindhuja Microcredit, a new generation digital and rural-focused Micro Finance Institution (MFI) providing financial services to the bottom of the pyramid self-employed women entrepreneurs, has raised a Series B funding round of $8.7 million from Norway-based Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) and Carpediem Capital.

It closed its Series A round $4 million from Carpediem Capital earlier in March 2019.

Welcoming the investment, Co-founders Abhisheka Kumar and Malkit Didyala, said,

“Our customers, self-employed rural women, are the most vulnerable in the COVID – 19 world with their livelihoods under direct threat, this funding will be used to scale our operations and provide much needed financing to these women micro-entrepreneurs.”

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Sindhuja, in its two years of operations, has provided microloans to over 84,000 self-employed women micro-entrepreneurs across five northern states in the country. The company currently operates 56 branches with over Rs 1.7 billion in Assets under Management (AUM). 100 percent of its branches are claimed to be located in rural and remote rural regions.

Arthur Sletteberg, Managing Director, NMI added,

“At NMI, we firmly believe in the inherent potential of financial inclusion of poor and rural households in India and we are committed to supporting entrepreneurs who share this endeavor.”

NMI is an international impact investor, which invests in MFIs across Africa and Asia, strictly focusing on double bottomline investments, where both financial and social goals are met. NMI is a public-private partnership, owned by the Norwegian and Danish governmental funds for developing countries, and large private sector institutions. Through 11 years of operation, NMI manages funds of over $250 million.

Vidura Capital acted as the exclusive financial advisor for the transaction. Vertices Partners acted as the legal counsel for Sindhuja Microcredit and Antares Legal for the investors, the company said in a release.