UGRO Capital Marks Milestone with Equity Fund Raise Approval

UGRO Capital Limited, a leading DataTech NBFC focused on MSME lending, today announced that its Board of Directors have approved an equity capital raise of INR 1,332.66 Cr through Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCD) and Warrants. The equity fund raise is subject to shareholder approval.

UGRO raised this capital through an innovative combination of Compulsorily Convertible Debentures with Warrants, ensuring that the capital required for both the current year's growth and next year's growth is effectively locked in today.

This capital raise received strong commitment from Samena Capital, one of the Company’s existing private equity investors, which committed INR 500 Crores through Warrants.

In addition to institutional investor like Aregence, some of India’s marquee family offices have committed in CCD and Warrants.

UGRO’s founder, board members and management team together committed INR 16.25 Crores in Warrants. UGRO’s founder, on 9th August 2023, had invested his entire first bonus received from the Company in buying UGRO’s shares.

Reflecting on these pivotal developments, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Founder and Managing Director of UGRO Capital, said, “The capital raise marks a significant milestone in our journey. We have always wanted to create an Institutionally Owned, Independently Supervised and Professionally Managed FinTech in the listed world so that the opportunity is available to the large universe of Public Market Investors. We believe that we are at a pivotal moment where our potential of being a financial institutional is serving the need of small businesses of India. Today, India needs more financial institutions like ours, to fulfil the credit gap of more than 90 Lac crores and I am thankful to all the investors, lenders, co lending partners and more importantly all UGROites to make this dream come true.”

This is the third capital raise by UGRO Capital. In 2018, Mr. Shachindra Nath acquired control of a small listed NBFC ‘Chokhani Securities Limited’ and simultaneously raised institutional equity capital of INR 914 Crores from the likes of TPG - NewQuest, PAG, ADV Capital, Samena Capital and other domestic family offices and public market investors. This in 2018 was one of the largest capital raises for a listed company at a startup stage.

Last year, U GRO Capital continued its trajectory of strategic expansion, raising INR 340.5 Crores. Of this, INR 240 Crores was garnered through preferential allotment to IFU (Investeringsfonden for Udviklingslande) via its Danish Sustainable Development Goals Investment Fund K/S. Additionally, INR 100.5 Crores was secured from long-term shareholders, including insurance companies, AIFs, and other financial institutions, through a Qualified Institutions Placement (QIP). These successive capital raises reflect U GRO Capital's unwavering commitment to innovation, growth, and fostering sustainable development in the Indian MSME landscape.

This equity capital raise was advised by InCred Capital, the Investment Banking arm of Incred Group.