The RBI grants SME lending startup ftcash an NBFC licence; it plans to distribute $100 million in FY23

• ByStartupStory     |    November 9, 2022

The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) has granted ftcash, a Mumbai-based SME lending company, permission to establish a non-banking financial organisation (NBFC). By filling the financing gap with accessible loans, ftcash seeks to empower more than 60 million micro- and small-business owners.

The company hopes to disburse loans of Rs 100 crore with the licence in FY23. Sanjeev Chandak, Deepak Kothari, and Vaibhav Lodha launched it in 2015, and it employs proprietary algorithms to evaluate creditworthiness and provide institutional financing to underserved MSMEs, such as merchants, pharmacies, clothing stores, auto repair shops, and mom-and-pop shops. The business collaborates with Northern Arc, Ugro, and Ambit to give credit to their clients.

Co-founder and CEO Sanjeev stated, “Nearly 80% of all MSMEs in India lack access to lending, despite the government outlining many efforts to improve credit availability for the stressed MSMEs category. With the NBFC licence, we will be able to close the credit gap and provide loans with little to no paperwork, as well as daily repayment choices via PoS with equal daily payments.

“We already have over 60,000 merchants in our network and have disbursed loans totaling more than Rs 600 crore. By 2023, we anticipate the disbursals to triple,” he continued. Accion, FMO, and IvyCap Ventures are a few of the investors who support ftcash, which has raised $10.2 million in funding.

Since its beginning, ftcash has received various accolades. This includes being recognised for its work in financial inclusion by the previous president of India, Pranab Mukherjee, as well as receiving a prestigious award from HRH the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, Prince William and Kate Middleton, at the UK Trade and Investment—Great Tech Initiative in 2017.

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