[Funding alert] Svasti Microfinance raises Rs 31 Cr from existing investors

SvastiMicrofinance Private Limited (Svasti) on Thursday said it has raised Rs 31 crore from its existing investors Adar Poonawalla, Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI), and Rajiv Dadlani Group.

In 2015, Svasti had raised funds from billionaire Adar Poonawalla, who subsequently invested in all follow-on rounds and now in the current round as well, the company said. In 2018, the company raised funds from Nordic Microfinance Initiative, which made follow-on investments in 2019 and again in the current round.

"To boost its capital base and fund its growth plans, Svasti would be raising around Rs 150 crore (Rs 1.5 billion) of equity in FY 2021-22. The company has raised a total of Rs 1.3 billion capital till date," it added.

Its existing investors also include Sajid Fazalbhoy, Kayenne Ventures (Singapore), and Arihant Patni Family.

The MFI services around 1,87,500 customers across 63 branches spread over four states, aggregating a loan portfolio of around Rs 400 crore.

In order to amplify its efforts, Svasti has built a proprietary fintech platform for its business, SvasTech, which helps Svasti to completely control and comprehensively manage its operational risks using fully automated processes.

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Svasti was co-founded by Arunkumar Padmanabhan and Narayanan Subramaniam in 2010 with the objective to fulfill the right to finance and transform the lives of women, especially those not having any collateral to support their bids for finance.

Narayanan said the constant trust of existing investors in Svasti will support the plan to double our branches and grow the portfolio to Rs 800 crore by March 2022.

Arthur Sletteberg, Managing Director of NMI, expressed faith in the company in navigating current pandemic challenges and to emerge as one of the leading companies in its sector in the coming years.

Arunkumar said: "This round of investment from our existing investors motivates everyone associated to achieve our mission of fulfilling every woman's right to finance and help transform the lives of their families as well.