U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital Announce Co-Origination Partnership

U GRO Capital, a listed, small business lending MSME focused fintech platform, and Kinara Capital, a fast-growing fintech, announced a strategic co-origination partnership to offer collateral-free business loans to small business entrepreneurs in India. Together, both companies plan to disburse INR 100 crores by the end of FY2022 to MSMEs in the Manufacturing, Trading and Services sectors.

The co-origination arrangement will leverage U GRO’s analytical data-driven decisions and integration through APIs with the smart technology platform of Kinara Capital. With years of AI/ML-based decisions and underwriting experience, Kinara Capital can take an MSME entrepreneur from loan application to loan disbursement within 24-hours. MSMEs across 300+ pin codes in Tier 1-3 cities will benefit from this partnership where Kinara is presently operating in the urban, semi-urban and peri-urban areas of Andhra Pradesh, Gujarat, Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and UT Puducherry.

The collaboration is being made possible by U GRO Capital’s Gro X-stream platform, which is an API-driven and highly customizable technology platform for FinTechs, Payment Platforms, NBFCs, NeoBanks, Market places and other digital platforms. Through this platform, U GRO coordinates MSME loans and also does Co-lending with large Banks & Financial Institutions. The company has signed 15+ co-origination partnerships with multiple partners.

Together, U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital aim to ease access to formal credit for hundreds of small business entrepreneurs who need financing for business growth.

Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital

Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, U GRO Capital said, “We are excited to enter into a partnership with Kinara Capital, towards our vision of solving the unsolved MSME credit gap. It is our belief that co-origination with FinTech is one of the most effective routes to achieving the financial inclusion of MSMEs, which has prompted us to design our technology platform ‘Gro X-stream’, allowing essential collaborations like this to fructify. We look forward to a long term relationship with Kinara Capital and work towards our common aim to support more MSMEs in their bid to grow.”

Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital said, “We are delighted to work with U GRO Capital as they resonate our focus on supporting India’s small business entrepreneurs. As a partner, U GRO has demonstrated equal parts commitment with its financing and technology to join us in easing credit flow to the MSME sector. This instantly impacts both local and national economies, and the job creation is essential as businesses continue to rebuild and grow this year.”

The co-origination partnership is aimed at keeping the process seamless for the entrepreneurs. MSMEs will need to apply only once directly with Kinara Capital and can start the process online, by phone or in person with a Kinara representative. Once approved, the loan sanction documents will include the names of both U GRO Capital and Kinara Capital. The customer experience will continue to be managed by Kinara Capital which provides complete support in vernacular and offers additional support such as a free digital workshop series with business tips for growth.

Available financing for MSMEs will range from INR 1 lakh to INR 30 lakhs with tenure ranging from 12-60 months. Financing can be availed for Working Capital, Asset Purchase directly from Kinara Capital and women-led businesses receive an automatic, upfront discount with the HerVikas program.

Kinara has 110 branches across 6 states and has provided over 60,000 collateral-free loans to small business entrepreneurs. The social impact of Kinara’s financial inclusion commitment has generated over INR 700 crores in incremental income for the entrepreneurs and supported over 250,000 jobs across local economies in India.

U GRO Capital currently has 34 branches across 9 states. It aims to expand the branch network to 100 by FY2022 and intends to reach 250,000 MSMEs in the coming 4 financial years.