[Funding alert] SarvaGram raises $10.5M in Series B round led by Elevation Capital

SarvaGram, the fintech startup focused on rural areas, has raised $10.5 million in a Series B funding round led by Elevation Capital, along with pro-rata participation from existing investor  Elevar Equity.

This two-year-old startup will use this round of funding to strengthen its technology platform, expand the geographical reach, and launch new offerings.

Co-founded by veteran rural bankers Utpal Isser and Sameer Mishra, SarvaGram attempts to marry its on-ground presence with enabling technology to better identify and serve its target customers. It has developed and deployed proprietary tools, including scorecards for various customer segments, to automate its lending decision.

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On the funding, Utpal Isser, Co-founder and CEO of SarvaGram, said, “We are delighted to have two highly discerning private equity investors as our partners in this journey to create unique financial and productivity-enhancing solutions for the emerging middle-classes in rural India — a journey which really starts from recognising that the needs of this aspirational, productive segment of rural economy are specific and need bespoke attention and solutions to further aid their growth.”

Started operations in June 2019, SarvaGram has set up facilities in Gujarat and Maharashtra across seven locations.

Jyotsna Krishnan, Managing Partner, Elevar Equity said, “The massive opportunity that rural India presents is well-known, however, building and scaling distribution in the rural context requires a deep understanding of these markets and of rural households. It has been great to see how Utpal and Sameer have leveraged their deep experience in rural financial services to design a platform that taps into household-level data and insights, and built a distribution business that has proven robust even through the pandemic.”

During the challenging environment posed by COVID-19, SarvaGram worked with its households to promote the use of digital payments to minimise the health impact of its customers and team members.

Mridul Arora, Managing Director, Elevation Capital said, “Utpal and Sameer bring an intimate understanding of the rural market and the rural customer. The team’s customer-centric ethos, ground-up product thinking and combination of high touch and tech are truly distinctive.”