U GRO Capital, a tech-enabled lender to small businesses, has disbursed Rs 500 crore of debt to about 1,000 customers since January this year.
The firm’s disbursals rose to Rs 218 crore in the first quarter of FY20 from Rs 64 crore in Q4 FY19, and ended the quarter with an annualised disbursal rate of Rs 1,200 crore.
“These disbursals happened at a challenging time, with the slowdown looming over and Small and Medium Enterprises and Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises finding it difficult to raise funds. The NBFC crisis has led to banks and private lenders becoming more cautious in lending,” U GRO Capital Chairman and Managing Director Shachindra Nath told
“A bank takes about 30-45 days to approve a loan application of an SME, while SMEs requirement are immediate and generally linked to working capital requirements. With our specialised technology platform, we reduce time-frame by doing away with the cumbersome documentation and verification processes,” Nath added.
SME lending platform
U GRO Capital has an SME lending platform that automates credit appraisal process while offering a loan to provide an in-principal approval in less than an hour. It has developed sectoral statistical scorecards that predicts customer behavior, systems for fraud management and data validation.
The platform has a GST, bank statement and a bureau analyser that help in estimating revenue, cost, obligation and understanding the eco-system of the customer.
The platform provides loans to underpenetrated segments such as K-12 and play schools in education sector, nursing homes, eye clinics, dental clinics, diagnostic labs, radiology and pathology labs and pharma retailers in the healthcare sector.
New sectors
The platform provides loans to under penetrated sectors such as chemicals, education, electrical equipment and components, food processing and FMCG, hospitality, healthcare, auto components and light engineering, Nath said.
“As SMEs are regarded as the key growth driver of India growth story, we have developed an in-depth understanding of various business models to come up with a sector-focussed lending strategy and an advanced lending platform for the SMEs,” Nath added.
Founded by Shachindra Nath, a financial services professional turned entrepreneur on July 5, 2018, U GRO Capital now intends to close this fiscal with a Rs 1,000-crore loan book. The company had raised Rs 950 crore of equity from including global private equity funds suchs as ADV Partners, NewQuest and IndGrowth.