Sindhuja Microcredit Raises INR 120 Cr in Series C from GAWA Capital and Oikocredit The Noida-based rural-focused lender aims to deploy the raised funds to expand the business in its existing geography and foray into new geographies as well as new product lines.
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Rural-focused microfinance firm Sindhuja Microcredit announced the raising of USD 14.5 million (INR 120 crore) in a Series C round from GAWA Capital (through its vehicle Huruma Fund) and Oikocredit.
In addition, the round included existing investors Carpediem Capital and Abler Nordic.
The company had previously raised USD 8.7 million in a Series B fundraising round from Carpediem Capital and the Norway-based Nordic Microfinance Initiative (NMI) in May 2020. In March 2019, it raised a USD 4 million Series A investment from Carpediem Capital.
According to the official release, the platform aims to deploy the recently raised funds to expand the business in its existing geography and foray into new geographies as well as new product lines.
Sindhuja's Managing Director Abhisheka Kumar and CEO Malkit Singh Didyala said, "The funding further strengthens our commitment to make financial services easily available to the financially excluded and MSME entrepreneurs through technology-driven solutions."
Founded in 2018 by Abhisheka Kumar and Malkit Singh Didyala, Sindhuja Microcredit provides microfinance to skilled women entrepreneurs who lack capital. It also provides business loans to traders, shopkeepers, and farmers for working capital needs or for expanding their businesses.
In nine states in the northern, eastern, and western regions of India, Sindhuja claims to have given microloans to over 400,000 independent women microentrepreneurs in just six years of operation.
With more than INR 10 billion in assets under management (AUM), the organisation presently runs 235 branches.
Agustin Vitorica, 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."
