Over 81% of 9000+ Surveyed MSMEs Expect Revenue Increase in Next 1-2 Yrs: Kinara Capital MSME Insights

Kinara Capital, a leading fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today released its fourth edition of MSME Insights, signaling strong optimism and increased formalization in the MSME sector. MSME entrepreneurs are confident about their near-term business growth prospects.

According to the latest MSME Insights, 81% of the surveyed MSMEs expect their business revenue to increase within the next 1-2 years. Of these, 34% anticipate a revenue growth of more than 15% in their businesses. Additionally, MSMEs are embracing formalization, with 51.7% of the surveyed reporting that they are now GST-registered.

The fourth edition of MSME Insights is based on an extensive multilingual survey of 9,314 MSMEs from Manufacturing, Trading, and Services sectors conducted across Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and the Union Territory of Puducherry.

The MSME Insights is a comprehensive data analysis of current trends of micro-small-medium enterprises (MSMEs) based on firsthand input from business owners. MSME Insights also delved into the behavioral patterns within the MSME sector and the analysis uncovered a striking pattern across all sectors. MSMEs still depend significantly on cash transactions, even when not accounting for UPI usage. Over 84.3% of the surveyed MSMEs stated that between 25%-100% of their business transactions are conducted with actual cash—underscoring the need for deeper digitization efforts across the sector.

Sharing her perspective, Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital, said,
“On the occasion of World MSME Day, it is encouraging to witness the strong optimism shared by India’s MSMEs. The fact that 81% of respondents in our recent MSME Insights survey expressed confidence in their growth prospects speaks volumes about the sector’s resilience and ambition. This optimism is rooted in improved access to formal credit, which enables entrepreneurs to focus on expansion. However, the sector’s continued reliance on cash transactions highlights the need to accelerate digitization. Embracing digital payments can enhance financial transparency and significantly boost access to formal credit. Ultimately, digitization holds the key to reaching underserved MSMEs and closing India’s ₹30 lakh crore credit gap.”

Key Findings From Kinara Capital’s Msme Insights, Fourth Edition

MSMEs are upbeat about their business growth: More than 81% of the respondents have indicated that they are expecting varying degrees of growth in their revenue. Of these, 47% of the respondents expect their revenue to witness a 5%-15% growth, 26.1% anticipate a growth of 15%-25% and 7.9% are optimistic of more than 25% growth in revenue. Only a small proportion, i.e., 1.1% foresee no growth.

Cash is King for MSMEs: Overall, 84.3% of the surveyed MSMEs reported relying on cash (excluding UPI) for 25%-to-100% of their business transactions. While only 7.4% of the MSME respondents relied on cash for more than 75% of their business transactions, 30.5% depended on cash for 50%-to-75% of their business transactions. This outcome indicates that a shift to digital payments, though underway, is far from reaching its full potential.

Formalization is on an Upswing: MSMEs are increasingly recognizing the benefits of Goods and Services Tax (GST) compliance. According to the survey, 51.7% of respondents are GST-registered and file returns regularly. Of these, 29.4% expressed interest in GST-linked loan products that offer better interest rates or flexible tenures. Regular GST filings not only reflect consistent business activity but also provide a verifiable financial history that enhances credit eligibility. Additionally, GST registration reduces the overall tax burden through input tax credits and offers MSMEs the ease of doing business across state lines with a unified tax structure.

Kinara Capital Commits ₹ 575+ Cr in Business Loans Disbursement for MSMEs in Karnataka by FY24

myKinara App, available in Kannada, simplifies process for MSMEs to avail Business Loan

Kinara Capital, a fast-growing fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today reiterated its commitment to fostering MSMEs in Karnataka. It aims to disburse over INR 575+ crores in business loans in FY24 and support the growth of MSMEs in the state.

Elaborating about the plan, Thirunavukkarasu R (Thiru R), Chief Operating Officer (COO), Kinara Capital, said, “Karnataka is a vibrant, growing region with a diverse MSME sector. Kinara Capital is proud to be headquartered in Karnataka and for over a decade, we have supported thousands of small business entrepreneurs in this state. Our commitment to disburse over INR 575+ crores in FY24 to MSMEs in Karnataka will boost business growth and lead to the creation of 6000+ new jobs in local economies.”

MSME business owners can start the process at their convenience with our easy to use myKinara App, available in Kannada. In FY23, Kinara Capital had disbursed over INR 341 crores, 141% higher than FY22 in the state.

The ambitious disbursement plan for this fiscal (FY24) will be supported by operational enhancement. Recently, Kinara Capital has opened 3 new branches in Haveri, Humnabad and Ramanagara and expanded its geographical presence to over 28 branches and 658 pincodes. Furthermore, the company plans to increase its employee strength in Karnataka to 930 employees, with over 300 new hires across Kinara Capital’s Offices in this fiscal .

Headquartered in Bengaluru, Karnataka, Kinara Capital Capital provides MSMEs with collateral-free loans in the range of INR 1 lakh to INR 30 lakhs through its various products such as Long-term Working Capital and Short-term Working Capital, Machinery Purchase, Bill Discounting and HerVikas loans to across 300 sub sectors.

Till date Kinara has disbursed more than INR 1,089 crores across 20,717 business loans in Karnataka. The support from Kinara has led to over INR 79 crores in incremental income generation for the small business entrepreneurs, and created over 21,437 new jobs in the local economies. Food Products , Construction Material, Machine Components, Textiles, Fabrication, Auto Components, Automobiles etc are some of the leading sub-sectors for Kinara Capital in the state.

Kinara Capital has also been working towards empowering MSME women entrepreneurs through its focused program HerVikas. Under the program, women entrepreneurs are supported with an upfront automatic discount on their business loans. Through HerVikas program, Kinara Capital has disbursed more than INR 87 crores across 956+ business loans to women entrepreneurs in Karnataka. The company is looking at scaling up its commitment and extending its support to more women-owned MSMEs in the state.

Kinara Capital is a fast-growing fintech company and is globally recognized for disrupting the small business lending model in India by democratising access to collateral-free business credit in India. Kinara Capital has disbursed over INR 5,000+ crores to date across 90,000+ collateral-free business loans thereby propelling vast financial inclusion of India’s MSME sector. Leading with a women- majority management team, Kinara Capital has raised the bar for gender inclusivity internally as an organisation and externally with its HerVikas program for women entrepreneurs. The company is qualified as a Systemically Important NBFC by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is a debt-listed entity on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Founded in 2011, and headquartered in Bengaluru, Kinara Capital has 133 branches serving MSMEs across 100+ cities in India with a workforce of 1,600+ employees. Visit kinaracapital.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @KinaraCapital.

Kinara Capital Closes INR ~200 Cr in Fresh Equity, Led by British International Investment (BII)

• Existing Investors Nuveen and Triple Jump’s AMP Fund Participated in this Equity Round led by British International Investment (BII)
• Funding to Advance Sustainable Financial Inclusion of Small Business Entrepreneurs in India and support Over 1 Million Jobs in Local Economies
• Kinara aims to grow 5x by 2025 and reach 2,00,000 MSMEs in 100+ cities

Kinara Capital, a fast-growing fintech for India’s small business entrepreneurs, today announced closing a fresh equity round of INR ~200 crores led by British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. Existing equity investors Nuveen and the ASN Microkredietfonds advised by Triple Jump also participated in this round. This equity investment will aim to propel Kinara Capital to grow 5x by 2025 and reach an AUM of INR 6,000 crores by democratizing access to formal financial inclusion with its myKinara App.

Hardika Shah

More than 300 MSME sub-sectors across Manufacturing, Trading, and Services sectors can digitally avail myKinara collateral-free business loans in the range of INR 1-30 lakhs. Powered by the advanced use of AI/ML, the company’s myKinara App can take small business entrepreneurs from loan decision-to-disbursement within 24-hours. Kinara Capital plans to reach over 2,00,000 MSMEs across 100+ cities in India in the next three years. The social impact of this growth is expected to support over 1 million jobs in local economies and generate over INR 3,000 crores in incremental income for small business entrepreneurs.

Kinara Capital’s other main equity investors include Gaja Capital, GAWA Capital, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), and Patamar Capital. Edelweiss Financial Services Limited acted as the exclusive advisor for the transaction.

Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said: “Women-led Fintech Company Kinara champions female empowerment and provides easier access to capital for small entrepreneurs across India. The British Government is proud to support the company through BII's investment. The UK remains committed to solving the biggest global development challenges by supporting sustainable and inclusive economic outcomes for all.”

Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital, said, “We are honored to onboard British International Investment (BII) as our latest equity investor. The combined expertise and capital infusion from BII, Nuveen and Triple Jump, will expand Kinara Capital’s offerings to meet the rising demand of the MSME sector in India. This year, India’s GDP growth has exceeded pre-pandemic levels signifying the resilience and growth prospects of small business entrepreneurs. With this support, we, at Kinara Capital, are further motivated to deliver on our mission of financial inclusion.”

Manav Bansal, Managing Director and Head of India, British International Investment, said, “BII seeks to invest in companies that demonstrate strong development impact capacity and offer tech-enabled innovative solutions with high potential for scalability. Kinara Capital meets these criteria, and we are especially excited by its commitment to helping to expand financial inclusion to MSMEs, including increasing women’s access to finance which in turn promotes women’s entrepreneurship. I am pleased that our flexible capital will help boost productivity within India’s MSME sector and facilitate entrepreneurial growth that will continue to transform the nation’s economy.”

Rekha Unnithan, Managing Director & Co-Head of Private Impact Investing, Nuveen, said, “We value our commitment to Kinara Capital, so it is a great joy to collaborate with British International Investment (BII) who share our undertaking to drive financial inclusion in India with a digital-first approach. We are happy to participate in this round of investment for Kinara Capital who we consider to be at the forefront of driving financial inclusion with its digital processes combined with a personalized approach.”

Orsolya Farkas, Equity Manager, Triple Jump, said, “We gladly participated in this round of investment for Kinara Capital, led by British International Investment (BII). We believe that this round will give an additional boost to Kinara’s expansion plans to extend formal financial inclusion to thousands of MSMEs in India. We are glad to be a part of this growth journey and believe that Kinara Capital has the right combination of technology and tactics for an impactful shift for small business entrepreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs.”

Kinara Capital is woman-founded and women-led, and qualifies under the 2X Challenge – an initiative launched by the development finance institutions (DFIs) of the G7 to deploy and mobilise capital to support projects that empower women as entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees and consumers. To further gender inclusivity in the MSME sector, Kinara Capital has extended an automatic discount to all women entrepreneurs with its HerVikas program.

Kinara Capital adheres to international Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) standards for financial service providers, particularly the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards (IFC PS), Client Protection Pathway (CPP), United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (UN WEP), and is committed to advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) with financial inclusion.

Fintech Kinara Capital Secures INR 380 Cr in Equity Round Led by Nuveen

Fresh Equity Round comes from Nuveen’s Global Impact Fund and Triple Jump’s ASN Microkredietfonds

• Kinara Capital closes Series E round and marks 7th year of profitability
• Fintech aims 5X growth by increasing book size to INR 6,000 Cr by 2025
• Two new members from Nuveen to join Kinara Capital’s Board of Directors

Kinara Capital, India’s fast-growing MSME fintech, closed a fresh equity round of INR 380 crores led by Nuveen, a leading global investment manager with over $1.3 trillion of assets under management, with participation from Triple Jump, a Dutch impact-focused investment manager advising the ASN Microkredietfonds. This new equity investment will lead to Kinara’s expansion of products and services to meet the rapidly increasing MSME credit demand in India. Kinara Capital aims to grow by 500% by 2025 with plans to disburse INR 10,000 crores of MSME business loans in the next three years.

This round of equity financing for Kinara Capital comes from Nuveen's Global Impact Fund which focuses on transformative companies’ impact value chains for low-income consumers and from the ASN Microkredietfonds, a listed and regulated Dutch microfinance fund advised by Triple Jump. With this equity round, Kinara Capital gains two new members on its Board of Directors with Nuveen's Managing Director & Co-Head of Private Equity Impact, Rekha Unnithan, and Nuveen’s Director of Private Equity Impact, Stephen Lee. As shareholders, Nuveen and Triple Jump will support Kinara’s continued growth and the continued development of their best in class ESG and impact management system.

Kinara offers both a fully digital process with its myKinara app and doorstep customer service with 110+ branches serving small business entrepreneurs across 90+ cities in India. With the advanced use of AI/ML, the company’s vernacular-friendly myKinara app can take MSME applicants from loan decision-to-disbursement within 24-hours. More than 300 sub-sectors across Manufacturing, Trading, and Services MSME sectors can avail Kinara’s collateral-free business loans in the range of INR 1-30 lakhs.

Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital, said, "We at Kinara Capital are immensely thrilled with the dual investment from Nuveen and Triple Jump who are uniting to support small business entrepreneurs in India, the world’s fastest-growing major economy. This is a true attestation of our sustainable business model and the vast MSME market opportunity ahead of us. This fresh equity round will energize us to scale faster so that we can continue doing what we do best, which is to bring more small business entrepreneurs into the fold of financial inclusion."

Rekha Unnithan, Managing Director & Co-Head of Private Impact Investing, Nuveen, said, "Nuveen seeks out innovative companies who are transforming economies and solving real-world problems. Kinara Capital and its leadership are par excellence in how they have disrupted small business lending in India. Taking a digital-first approach without compromising on human customer service, Kinara has outclassed others with its ability to address the pain points of MSMEs in India. With a decade worth of proprietary data, Kinara has perfected its qualification processes and turnaround time. We at Nuveen are proud to invest fully in Kinara Capital, and together, we will turn to the next chapter of growth.

Orsolya Farkas, Equity Manager, Triple Jump, said, "Triple Jump is proud to invest in Kinara Capital which is leading with a sustainable business model and creating a systemic shift in how small business entrepreneurs should be considered and served, especially women entrepreneurs. Impact is core to Kinara’s business and the company has never wavered from its mission of financial inclusion. We are impressed by Kinara’s genuine commitment towards gender parity both within its organization by leading with a women-majority management team and with its HerVikas program for women entrepreneurs."

Kinara’s products include collateral-free business loan offerings of Asset Purchase Loan for new or used machines, Long-Term Working Capital Loan, and Bill Discounting Loan which support ongoing needs such as shop renovations, purchase of stock or raw materials, machine repair, hiring of seasonal help, or related business growth requirements of a small business. Existing Kinara customers can further gain an advantage with lower-cost loans of shorter tenure by opting for a Short-Term Working Capital Loan or Loan Against Property. All women entrepreneurs qualify for an automatic discount with Kinara’s HerVikas program. In addition, Kinara offers free monthly informational workshops in multiple languages with its Grow With Kinara series.

To date, Kinara Capital has disbursed INR 3,000 crores across 75,000+ collateral-free business loans enabling vast financial inclusion of the underserved small business entrepreneurs in India.

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX's Women's Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India. This sustainable investment fund will be disbursed via Kinara Capital’s established HerVikas discounted loan program to an estimated 2500+ women-owned small businesses. The expected impact of the partnership between IIX and Kinara Capital will generate an incremental income of INR 320 crores for women entrepreneurs.

“The investment from IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series in our HerVikas program brings fresh impetus to the need of financial inclusion of women entrepreneurs. Empowering women has a strong impact on improving the quality of life for families and achieving gender parity can add 27% to India’s GDP,” said Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital. “IIX is a trailblazer in gender lens investing and we are immensely honored to be a part of its ecosystem to create sustainable impact by advancing women entrepreneurs.”

The HerVikas program by Kinara Capital enables ‘her progress’ with an automatic upfront discount of 1% on interest costs on fast, collateral-free business loans in the range of INR 1 lakh to 30 lakhs. Kinara is effectively addressing the inequitable credit gap and related systemic issues by providing access to formal credit, industry knowledge, and personalized customer service to women entrepreneurs.

IIX’s CEO and Founder, Professor Durreen Shahnaz, said, “Having supported Kinara in one of their initial equity rounds and having watched the company grow steadily and with impact for nearly a decade, we are proud to invest in Kinara Capital again from the proceeds of the third tranche of the Women’s Livelihood Bond Series. At a time when COVID-19 caused governments, investors, and businesses to turn inward and leave behind millions of underserved women, women-led enterprises like Kinara Capital are spearheading COVID-resilience from the ground up by accelerating financial inclusion and empowering women entrepreneurs to be part of the solution for economic recovery. IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series is doing what no one else dares to do – valuing women and making them a part of the global financial system. But we’re not stopping there. We’re going to keep pushing the boundaries by continuing to expand the Women's Livelihood Bond Series so that we create truly systemic change that will outlast any pandemic.”

The Women’s Livelihood Bond 3 (WLB3) is part of the USD $150 million Women’s Livelihood Bond (WLB Series), a series of innovative debt securities that create sustainable livelihoods for over 3 million women across developing countries. The WLB3 is supporting women-focused enterprises in India, Indonesia, Cambodia, and the Philippines that are directly supporting women to respond to, recover from, or rebuild their livelihoods in the COVID-19 pandemic.

Women-owned businesses are about 20% of the 60+ million MSMEs in India, however, the majority of these remain in the micro category. With data-driven credit decisioning, Kinara ensures a bias-free risk assessment of women business owners. Moreover to addressing the credit gap with collateral-free loans, Kinara tackles systemic bias against women by defying common practices such as asking for the presence of a male relative to apply for a loan. In addition, Kinara hosts customer meets and digital workshop series with useful tips and information in vernacular languages to help women entrepreneurs scale their business.

Kinara Capital’s HerVikas discounted loan program for women-owned MSMEs is available in 90+ cities across the states of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, and UT Puducherry.

About Impact Investment Exchange (IIX)

IIX is the pioneer in impact investing and the global leader in sustainability. We have transformed the financial system so that women, the environment and underserved communities are finally given a value and a voice in the global market. Over the past decade, we have built the world’s largest crowdfunding platform for impact investing (Impact Partners), created innovative financial products such as the Women's Livelihood Bond and the Women’s Catalyst Fund, operated award-winning enterprise technical assistance programs such as IIX ACTS, and established an Impact Institute and Research & Advisory to build the sustainable investing market. To date, our work has spanned 53 countries, unlocked US$215 million of private-sector capital, and positively impacted over 87 million direct and household lives, and avoided over 1.2 million tons of carbon. The foundation of IIX's work is IIX Values, the world’s first impact verification solution for every organization, which effectively measures the social and environmental impact of an investment and gives value to the voices of the underserved. IIX has received numerous awards for its work including the Oslo Business for Peace Award, the ‘Nobel Prize for Business.’ Learn more here: iixglobal.com

About Kinara Capital

Kinara Capital is a socially responsible fintech non-banking financial company (NBFC) propelling the financial inclusion of small business entrepreneurs with fast & flexible collateral-free business loans. To date, the company has disbursed INR 2000+ crores across 56,000+ collateral-free small business loans. The company boasts a women-majority management team and is globally recognized for its innovations in SME lending. IFC/World Bank named Kinara Capital as ‘Bank of the Year-Asia 2019’ and Financial Times ranked it among the Top 100 High-Growth Companies in Asia-Pacific. Headquartered in Bangalore, the company operates 110 branches in 90+ cities in India. Kinara Capital is recognized as a Systemically Important NBFC by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is a debt listed entity on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Click here for more information kinaracapital.com and follow us on Twitter @KinaraCapital

This press release may contain projections and other forward-looking statements regarding future events or future financial performance. These statements are only predictions and reflect our current beliefs and expectations with respect to future events and are based on assumptions and subject to risk and uncertainties and subject to change at any time. Given business risks and uncertainties, undue reliance on these forward-looking statements should not be placed. Actual events or results may differ materially from those contained in the projections or forward-looking statements.

SME Lending Startup Kinara Capital Raises $5 Mn in Debt Funding from Swiss-based responsAbility

Bangalore-based Kinara Capital, a brand of Visage Holdings and Finance Private Limited (NBFC), has raised Rs 32 crore (~ US$5 million) in non-convertible debentures from Zurich,Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments, an asset manager which specialises in debt and equity financing for private firms, reported Times of India.

Founded in 2011 by former Accenture senior executive Hardika Shah, Kinara Capital provides financing of USD $2,000 to $20,000 to small-to-medium enterprises (SME) in India with turnover of less than Rs.2 Crores, filling the gap between microfinance and commercial capital.

The company is focused on lending to growing businesses (usually 2-20 employees) that require funding for working capital, capital assets, and start-up needs. Kinara Capital focus industries include agri-products, handicraft production, water, food, and energy.

The company has earlier raised Rs 96 crore ($14.7 million) from mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital, GAWA Capital and existing investors Patamar Capital and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in October 2017, followed by $14.5 million funding in Series C round, in November of same year.

Jaskirat Chadha, senior investment officer, responsAbility, said, "responsAbility-managed funds have been providing funding for financial institutions targeting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises for the past 15 years. Kinara Capital is a successful player in the inclusive finance area that actively contributes to driving economic growth as well as increasing the standard of living of large sections of the population."

Founded in 2003, responsAbility Investments AG is a private Swiss enterprise which has $3 billion assets under management invested in 540 companies in 90 countries. Its core business are investments in microfinance companies which provide credit and other banking services to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises who have previously had limited access to formal financial services in frontier or developing countries.

Besides operations in Switzerland, responsAbility has its own personnel in Lima (Peru), Mumbai (India), Nairobi (Kenya), Hong Kong (China), Bangkok (Thailand) as well as in Paris (France) and Oslo (Norway). One of its founding partner was Credit Suisse, the second largest Swiss bank, where the present CEO of responsAbility, Klaus Tischhauser, had worked before.

Recent Activity in Lending Startups

Last November, Paytm invested undisclosed amount in CreditMate, a Mumbai-based lending startup addressing the market for loans against two-wheelers through their partner dealer network for customers who might be new to credit.

Prior to this, Bengaluru-based online installment store for young adults, KrazyBee, raised $8 million (around Rs 51.7 crore) in its Series A funding round led by Shunwei Capital and popular Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Technologies.

In December, Faircent, touted as India's largest P2P lending company, raised Rs. 25 crore in a high-profile funding round led by Incofin Investment Management with participation from its existing investors.

[Top Image - Hardika Shah | source]

SME Lending Startup Kinara Capital Raises $5 Mn in Debt Funding from Swiss-based responsAbility

Bangalore-based Kinara Capital, a brand of Visage Holdings and Finance Private Limited (NBFC), has raised Rs 32 crore (~ US$5 million) in non-convertible debentures from Zurich,Switzerland-based responsAbility Investments, an asset manager which specialises in debt and equity financing for private firms, reported Times of India.

Founded in 2011 by former Accenture senior executive Hardika Shah, Kinara Capital provides financing of USD $2,000 to $20,000 to small-to-medium enterprises (SME) in India with turnover of less than Rs.2 Crores, filling the gap between microfinance and commercial capital.

The company is focused on lending to growing businesses (usually 2-20 employees) that require funding for working capital, capital assets, and start-up needs. Kinara Capital focus industries include agri-products, handicraft production, water, food, and energy.

The company has earlier raised Rs 96 crore ($14.7 million) from mid-market private equity firm Gaja Capital, GAWA Capital and existing investors Patamar Capital and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, in October 2017, followed by $14.5 million funding in Series C round, in November of same year.

Jaskirat Chadha, senior investment officer, responsAbility, said, "responsAbility-managed funds have been providing funding for financial institutions targeting micro, small and medium-sized enterprises for the past 15 years. Kinara Capital is a successful player in the inclusive finance area that actively contributes to driving economic growth as well as increasing the standard of living of large sections of the population."

Founded in 2003, responsAbility Investments AG is a private Swiss enterprise which has $3 billion assets under management invested in 540 companies in 90 countries. Its core business are investments in microfinance companies which provide credit and other banking services to very small, small and medium-sized enterprises who have previously had limited access to formal financial services in frontier or developing countries.

Besides operations in Switzerland, responsAbility has its own personnel in Lima (Peru), Mumbai (India), Nairobi (Kenya), Hong Kong (China), Bangkok (Thailand) as well as in Paris (France) and Oslo (Norway). One of its founding partner was Credit Suisse, the second largest Swiss bank, where the present CEO of responsAbility, Klaus Tischhauser, had worked before.

Recent Activity in Lending Startups

Last November, Paytm invested undisclosed amount in CreditMate, a Mumbai-based lending startup addressing the market for loans against two-wheelers through their partner dealer network for customers who might be new to credit.

Prior to this, Bengaluru-based online installment store for young adults, KrazyBee, raised $8 million (around Rs 51.7 crore) in its Series A funding round led by Shunwei Capital and popular Chinese smartphone maker Xiaomi Technologies.

In December, Faircent, touted as India's largest P2P lending company, raised Rs. 25 crore in a high-profile funding round led by Incofin Investment Management with participation from its existing investors.

[Top Image - Hardika Shah | source]