Microfinance provider Sindhuja Microcredit for rural self-employed women entrepreneurs has raised $14.5 million in a Series C funding round from GAWA Capital and social impact investor Oikocredit, the company announced on Thursday. The capital will be used in funding expansion to new geographies and existing ones along with new product lines.
Registered with the Reserve Bank of India and headquartered in Noida, NBFC-MFI Sindhuja Microcredit focuses on meeting the financial and non-financial needs of the rural and semi-urban population. The company also offers business loans to traders, shopkeepers and farmers for working capital needs or for expanding their businesses.
Commenting on the funding round, Abhisheka Kumar, Managing Director and Malkit Singh Didyala Chief Executive Officer, Sindhuja Microcredit said, “GAWA Capital and Oikocredit are well-known international impact investors and it is a matter of pride for us to have their backing.”
“The funding further strengthens our commitment to make financial service easily available to the financially excluded and MSME entrepreneurs through technology-driven solutions,” they said.
Commenting on their investment, Agustín Vitórica, Co-Founder, GAWA Capital said, “Sindhuja is focused on supporting people from rural areas and women borrowers, and our collaboration aims to empower India’s underserved farming community. We’re confident that the company is poised to meet this challenge by providing products and services of value to this segment.”
Unitus Capital acted as the Exclusive Financial Advisor for the transaction. Vertices Partners acted as the Legal Counsel for Sindhuja Microcredit.
Earlier, Sindhuja had raised Series A funding from Carpediem Capital, which came in as the first institutional investor backing the company at an early stage while India’s financial sector was in the middle of the IL&FS crisis.
The company raised Series B funding during the first phase of the Covid-19 pandemic and pre-series C recently. Both rounds were led by Abler Nordic, with participation from Carpediem Capital.
Launched in 2018, Sindhuja said it has provided micro-loans to over 4 lakh self-employed women micro-entrepreneurs so far across nine states in northern, eastern and western parts of India. The company currently operates 235 branches with over Rs 1,000 crore in assets under management (AUM)
India’s microfinance sector reported Rs 402.6K crore in portfolio outstanding as of December 2023 with 6 per cent quarterly and 30.9 per cent yearly growth, as per the report by credit bureau Crif High Mark. NBFC MFIs dominate the market with a portfolio share of 38.3 per cent, followed by banks at 33.4 per cent, small finance banks at 17.4 per cent and NBFCs at 9.4 per cent as of December 2023.