U GRO Capital Disburses INR 790 Cr in Q2 FY22, With Highest Ever Advances of INR 288 Cr in September 2021

Customer base touches 10,000 mark; total employee strength at 700

The Board of Directors of UGRO Capital Limited approved the financial results for the quarter and half year ended 30th September 2021 at its meeting held through video conference on Tuesday, 2nd November 2021.

Key updates for the quarter

• Disbursements for the quarter stood at INR 790Cr registering a Q-o-Q Growth of 139%. Also, the company clocked its highest ever disbursements in Sep’21 (INR 288Cr)
• AUM stood at INR 1,933 Cr as of Sep-21 growth 98% YoY and 41% Q-o-Q
• Total cumulative disbursements crossed INR 3,636Cr since inception
• Customer base crossed 10,000 mark
• Company continued to expand its physical footprint. Branch count increased to 55 as compared to 34 in last quarter
• Company has added 23 new lenders in the last twelve months taking the total active lender base to 37 as of Sep-21
• Total Income at INR 62.7Cr increased 80% YoY and 22% Q-o-Q
• The Company continued to hire additional manpower on the business side in line with its growth plans. Total employee base at the end of the quarter stood at 580 vs 194 employees a year ago The total employee base as of today (October end) has crossed the 700 mark

Key performance highlights for Q2FY22

a) Loan Portfolio:

• The Company’s AUM as of the end of September 30, 2021, stood at INR 1,933Cr compared to INR 978 Cr as of Sep-20 registering a 98% increase on a Y-o-Y basis
• With contribution from all the distribution channels, the company clocked its highest ever disbursements in Sep’21 (INR 288Cr)
• The loan book is 78% secured with a well-diversified portfolio across sectors and geographies (3,250+ pin codes)
• Portfolio GNPA stands at 1.9% as of September 30, 2021

b) Liability and Liquidity Position

• The Company further widened its active lender base to 37 lenders testifying the strength of U GRO’s business model
• The Company’s overall liability book rose to INR 1,096Cr in Q2FY22, with overall debt equity ratio still at 1.14x indicating a long runway for growth
• Co-lending partnerships – The company entered into a co-lending partnership with IDBI bank during the quarter thus expanding its co-lending relationships with multiple banks for various product categories
• The company’s credit rating outlook during the quarter improved from Stable to Positive
• The company maintains a CRAR of 47%, indicating a comfortable capital position

c) Financial Performance

• The company’s total income increased to INR 62.7Cr in Q2FY22, as compared to INR 34.8 Cr in Q2FY21 an increase of 80% on a Y-o-Y basis
• The Net Interest Income (NII) for Q2FY22 stood at INR 31.7Cr compared to INR 20.7Cr in Q2FY21. 53% increase on Y-o-Y basis. Net interest margins improved 40bp QoQ to 7.7% largely due to reduction in the borrowing cost
• The total provisioning as of Sep-21 stood at INR 24.2Cr vs the regulatory requirement of INR 22.1Cr.
• The Company declared a PBT of INR 4.7Cr, as compared to INR 2.7Cr in Q2 FY21
• The net worth of the Company stands at INR 958 Cr as on September 30, 2021

Commenting on the results, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital stated, “We started our operational journey in January 2019 and completed our first full year of operational run from April 2019 – March 2020 which was one of the most turbulent time for NBFC industry post IL&FS crisis. As we were coming out of the after effect of the same, the business was completely halted from April 2020 – September 2020 and again in April 2021 to June 2021 due to the impact of covid pandemic. Our Q2 FY22 results are testimony to our long-term commitment to solve the credit problem of MSMEs through our sectoral approach, digital platform combined with both multi-channel asset engine and collaborative partnership on liability side.

Within our defined sector we have now built capabilities to serve small business customers with borrowing need of Rs. 1 Lac to Rs. 3 Crores through our four-pronged asset channel and we have been successful in building India’s first fully data driven underwriting platform which has embraced the Data Tripod of GST, Banking & Bureau.

We continue to expand our distribution reach through our GRO Micro branches, and their relative contribution would start getting reflected in next few quarters, our Prime Branches have reached maturity and we are adding people to improve the throughput, our Eco System Channel, both SCF & Machinery is benefiting from the digital and physical footprint we have created. In last two quarters our GRO – Xstream platform has on boarded more than fifteen FinTech / NBFC partners on asset side and Banks on liability side. We will carry on the momentum and traction which is now coming because the infrastructure we have built over last one year and we have a clear path of achieving our mission of serving 1mn customers and take 1% market share of outstanding MSME Credit of India.

About U GRO Capital

U GRO Capital limited is a listed (NSE, BSE), MSME lending fintech platform. U GRO Capital’s mission is ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – Small Business Credit Need with its omnichannel distribution model combining physical and digital journey of the customer. The Company envisions to spearhead India’s transition of MSME lending market to the new age of on-tap financing. It uses the emerging Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau coupled with its sectoral analysis to solve the problem of credit for small businesses.

U GRO aspires to serve one million small businesses with an asset book of 1% of outstanding MSME credit of India as its first milestone.

Technology underpins every aspect of U GRO’s lending process, from API integrations, sectoral and sub-sectoral statistical scorecards, state-of-the-art AI/ML credit underwriting engine combining bank, bureau and GST statement analyzers, automated policy approvals, and machine learning OCR technology. Company’s GRO Extreme platform empowers fintech and other institutional platforms to deepen their distribution reach through a plug and play API driven seamless integration with U GRO. The company has developed full tech stack to fully automate the complete life cycle of a loan right from origination to collection during the entire customer journey.

The Company has raised ~₹ 2500 crore of equity & debt capital from marquee Private Equity Investors, Family Offices, Banks and other Financial Institution over last 3 years.

U GRO Capital Set to More Than Double Its Employee Strength to 1000

Pia Shome, Chief People Officer, U GRO Capital

U GRO Capital, a listed, small business lending fintech platform has embarked on its aspirational expansion in the tier 3-4 regions in the states of Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Telangana and Karnataka. The company aims to expand its network of 34 branches to 100 by the end of FY 2022. It will be adding 50 ‘micro’ branches in the mentioned locations, to extend formal credit to the micro businesses.

Complementing the geographical expansion, the company plans to more than double its employee strength. With the count increasing rapidly, U GRO Capital recently crossed the 550 employee mark, and plans to augment it to ~1000 employees. The hiring, which also includes a significant portion of campus recruitment, will help create employment opportunities for the homegrown workforce in these tier 3-4 regions. The entire hiring process will be executed virtually right from recruitment to onboarding and induction.

To enhance its capabilities across all the key business and operational facets, U GRO Capital is extensively investing in disciplines including but not limited to product, technology, infrastructure, innovation and human resource. The hires, hence, will be made across multiple departments such as strategy, treasury, operations, finance, technology, human resources, sales, credit, staffing, and marketing, amongst others. The guiding imperative is to build a robust organizational structure with the right mix of human and technological capabilities, to resonate with the growing business.

On the diversity and inclusion front, U GRO Capital aims to achieve a gender ratio of 20% by FY 2022 doubling the rate from 10% currently. The work has already started as the company is recruiting women at key leadership positions.

Pia Shome, Chief People Officer, U GRO Capital said, “We, at U GRO Capital, envision to solve the unsolved MSME credit gap and have laid a strong foundation towards the same. We have now set on our aspirational growth journey and scaling up of our current ~550 members’ strong team to 1000 is a critical aspect. In fact another 250 People from diverse background across various work profiles & levels are set to join us in the next two months. As we take significant strides towards our mission, U GRO Capital’s programs are designed to enable fast tracked growth for the employees as well, while keeping their well-being at the forefront”.

As of August 31, 2021, U GRO Capital’s cumulative disbursement had crossed INR 3,300 crore and its assets under management (AUM) stood at INR 1,729 crore. In the next five years, U GRO Capital aspires to build an INR 20,000 crore of AUM while acquiring approximately 1% market share of the outstanding MSME credit in India by opening around 270 branches. This will help in its bid to serve over lacs of small business customers.

U GRO Capital limited is a listed (NSE, BSE), MSME lending fintech platform. U GRO Capital’s mission is ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – Small Business Credit Need with its omnichannel distribution model combining physical and digital journey of the customer. The Company envisions to spearhead India’s transition of MSME lending market to the new age of on-tap financing. It uses the emerging Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau coupled with its sectoral analysis to solve the problem of credit for small businesses.

U GRO aspires to serve one million small businesses with an asset book of 1% of outstanding MSME credit of India as its first milestone.

Technology underpins every aspect of U GRO’s lending process, from API integrations, sectoral and sub-sectoral statistical scorecards, state-of-the-art AI/ML credit underwriting engine combining bank, bureau and GST statement analysers, automated policy approvals, and machine learning OCR technology. Company’s GRO Extreme platform empowers fintech and other institutional platforms to deepen their distribution reach through a plug and play API driven seamless integration with U GRO. The company has developed full tech stack to fully automate the complete life cycle of a loan right from origination to collection during the entire customer journey.

The Company has raised ~₹ 2500 crore of equity & debt capital from marquee Private Equity Investors, Family Offices, Banks and other Financial Institution over last 3 years.

Acuite Upgrades Ratings of U GRO Capital

• Uptick in disbursements and improvement in collection efficiency during June-August 2021
• Diversification of lender base and strong pipeline of liability for near future
• Robust and resilient portfolio as evidenced through improved collection efficiency and lowered delinquencies

U GRO Capital, an NSE & BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform, today announced that Acuite Ratings and Research has upgraded its rating outlook from 'Stable' to 'Positive'. The company's Rs.1100 crore bank loan and Rs. 450 crore non-convertible debentures (NCD) have been rated A / Positive. The agency has also reaffirmed Acuite A1 rating to the Commercial paper programme amounting to Rs. 100 crore.

The rating rational for the upgrade describes following:

In the past few months, U GRO Capital has seen significant momentum in loan disbursements, which was at Rs. 243 crore in August 2021, Rs.260 crore in July 2021 and Rs.193 crore in June 2021. The company has also commenced lending under the co-lending partnership with Bank of Baroda of Rs. 1000 crore since July 2021.

Underlying portfolio continues to be robust and resilient as evidenced from lower delinquencies of 8.9% as on August 31,2021 as against 12.9% as on March 31, 2021 and collection efficiency of over 92% every month since June 2021.

The company has demonstrated its ability to raise Rs.705.40 crore by ways of term loans, NCD, Commercial Paper in FY2021 from a diversified base of around 25 lenders including large public and private sector banks. The rating continues to take into account the governance framework of U GRO Capital wherein majority of the Board comprises of Independent Directors, nominee directors and an experienced management team. The rating also factors in the company's high capitalization levels and low gearing levels assessing it as financially stable. 

U GRO continues to invest into its distribution channel to diversify its asset profile within MSME from 1 Lac loan to 5 crore loan segment. This has in return led to subdued Return on Average Assets (RoAA) of 1.98% as on March 31, 2021 (1.90% as on March 31, 2020). Acuite takes cognisance of recent co-lending partnership with Bank of Baroda along with proposed partnerships pipeline which along with focus on branch network is expected to drive the outstanding portfolio growth going forward.

On the rating upgrade, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, said "We at U GRO Capital are delighted with the rating upgrade by Acuite. U GRO is building one of India's largest FinTech for small business financing with an aspiration to serve more than 1 million customers and take 1% market share to the outstanding credit of MSME financing. Our focus on building our entire underwriting on the Tripod of Data driven by GST Banking and Bureau has reached full maturity and we believe that MSME financing is at the point of inflection where it would reach to consumer financing level in next few years.

This is also a testament to our efforts in the last few years which has allowed us to sail on our rapid growth journey, as we are now expanding our branch network to 100 and increasing employee strength to 1000, by FY2022."

About U GRO Capital

U GRO Capital limited is a listed (NSE, BSE), MSME lending fintech platform. U GRO Capital's mission is 'Solve the Unsolved' – Small Business Credit Need with its omnichannel distribution model combining physical and digital journey of the customer. The Company envisions to spearhead India's transition of MSME lending market to the new age of on-tap financing. It uses the emerging Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau coupled with its sectoral analysis to solve the problem of credit for small businesses.

U GRO aspires to serve one million small businesses with an asset book of 1% of outstanding MSME credit of India as its first milestone.

Technology underpins every aspect of U GRO's lending process, from API integrations, sectoral and sub-sectoral statistical scorecards, state-of-the-art AI/ML credit underwriting engine combining bank, bureau and GST statement analysers, automated policy approvals, and machine learning OCR technology. Company's GRO Extreme platform empowers fintech and other institutional platforms to deepen their distribution reach through a plug and play API driven seamless integration with U GRO. The company has developed full tech stack to fully automate the complete life cycle of a loan right from origination to collection during the entire customer journey.

The Company has raised ~₹ 2500 crore of equity & debt capital from marquee Private Equity Investors, Family Offices, Banks and other Financial Institution over last 3 years.

U GRO Capital Appoints Amit Mande as Chief Revenue Officer

Amit Mande

U GRO Capital, a NSE & BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform, today, announced the appointment of Mr. Amit Mande as Chief Revenue Officer. In this role, he will handle the asset side of U GRO Capital and primarily focus on deepening the existing distribution channels, creating newer partnership and continue to scale UGRO’s business to achieve its mission of serving 1 Million MSME customers and take 1% market share of outstanding credit to MSMEs in India by 2025.

Amit brings 20 plus years of cross-functional banking experience with significant expertise in secured as well as unsecured retail assets. Prior to joining U GRO, he was CEO of M Capital, which is the lending arm of Mswipe where he launched the lending business which has been operational since January 2021.

Previously, he has managed a variety of retail asset products throughout his career – ranging from Personal Loans, Business Loans, LAP, Mortgages, Consumer Durables, CV/CE Finance and Two-Wheeler Finance, Auto and MSME.

He has been instrumental in setting up the SME lending business of Rattan India Finance, he was Business Head for Unsecured SME loans for Capital First and has worked with Barclays Bank, ABN AMRO Bank and Standard Chartered Bank. He is management graduate from Jamnalal Bajaj Institute of Management Studies and an engineering graduate from V.J.T.I, Mumbai.

Announcing the appointment, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital stated, “We are glad to welcome Amit in our team, as the Chief Revenue Officer. With this addition we have completed the reset of our management team and we now have strong layers of business leaders which would help me to achieve the vision of capturing 1% market share and serving 1 million small business customers in India. India’s SME financing market is at its inflection point wherein the Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau would bring it to the levels of consumer financing in next few years. We have been resetting the management team which is nimble and agile, understands conventional underwriting but simultaneously has the ability to adopt to these changes which are happening in lending industry – we would be one of the largest FinTech driven by its own balance sheet and collaboration with large banks and financial institution.”

On the appointment, Mr. Amit Mande said, “I am delighted to join U GRO Capital which is closely working on a mission of solving the unsolved credit needs of small businesses through its unique initiatives. The building blocks of digitisation, strong analytics, robust risk platform and a large, diversified distribution which have been put in place in short span of two years is a matter of inspiration for every other FinTech and I am privileged to be given the opportunity to scale this to next level. My continuous engagement with Mr. Nath and the Board of U GRO gives me confidence that U GRO is the long term home for achieving my professional goals.”

About U GRO Capital

U GRO Capital limited is a listed (NSE, BSE), MSME lending fintech platform. U GRO Capital’s mission is ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – Small Business Credit Need with its omnichannel distribution model combining physical and digital journey of the customer. The Company envisions to spearhead India’s transition of MSME lending market to the new age of on-tap financing. It uses the emerging Data Tripod of GST, Banking and Bureau coupled with its sectoral analysis to solve the problem of credit for small businesses.

U GRO aspires to serve one million small businesses with an asset book of 1% of outstanding MSME credit of India as its first milestone.

Technology underpins every aspect of U GRO’s lending process, from API integrations, sectoral and sub-sectoral statistical scorecards, state-of-the-art AI/ML credit underwriting engine combining bank, bureau and GST statement analysers, automated policy approvals, and machine learning OCR technology. Company’s GRO Extreme platform empowers fintech and other institutional platforms to deepen their distribution reach through a plug and play API driven seamless integration with U GRO. The company has developed full tech stack to fully automate the complete life cycle of a loan right from origination to collection during the entire customer journey.

The Company has raised ~₹ 2500 crore of equity & debt capital from marquee Private Equity Investors, Family Offices, Banks and other Financial Institution over last 3 years.

U GRO Capital Crosses INR 1,500 Cr of AUM and a Monthly Disbursement of INR 250 Cr in July 2021

U GRO Capital got listed on National Stock Exchange on 11th August, 2021

AUM stood at INR 1,561 Cr as of Jul-21 & INR 1,375 Cr as of Jun-21 and cumulative disbursement crossed over INR 3,000 Cr in Jul-21

Total lender base expanded to 32 during the quarter

U GRO Capital, a listed, technology focused platform, announced its financial results for quarter ended June 30, 2021.

The key highlights for Q1 FY22:

Loan Portfolio:

• The Company’s AUM as of the end of July 31, 2021 stood at INR 1,561 Cr & INR 1,375 Cr as of June 30, 2021 compared to INR 847 Cr as of June 30, 2020 registering a 62% increase on a Y-o-Y basis
• The cumulative disbursement crossed INR 3,000 Cr & the monthly disbursal crossed 250 Cr in July 2021
• The loan book is 74% secured and the largest sectoral concentration is light engineering (29%) and the largest geographical concentration is Delhi NCR (20%)
• Portfolio GNPA and NNPA stand at 2.29% and 1.88% respectively as of June 30, 2021

Liability and Liquidity Position

• The Company further widened its lender base to 32 lenders testifying the strength of U GRO’s business model
• The Company’s overall liability book rose to INR 816 Cr in Q1 FY22, with overall debt equity ratio still at 0.86x indicating a long runway for growth
• The Company maintains a strong liquidity profile with nearly INR 300 Cr of cash and equivalents
• The Company maintains a CRAR of 62%, indicating a healthy capitalisation

Financial Performance

• The Company’s total income increased to INR 51.3 Cr in Q1 FY22, as compared to INR 30.8 Cr in Q1 FY21 an increase of 67% on a Y-o-Y basis
• The Net Interest Income (NII) for Q1FY22 stood at ₹27.4 Cr compared to ₹23.8 Cr in Q1FY21. ~15% increase on Y-o-Y basis
• The total provisioning as of Jun-21 stood at INR 20.6 Cr, 89% above the provision mandated as per RBI guideline
• The Company declared a PBT of INR 2.4 Cr, as compared to INR 4.1 Cr in Q1 FY21
• The net worth of the Company stands at INR 955 Cr as on June 30, 2021

Operational Parameters

• The Company commenced disbursement under the co-lending partnership signed under the revised framework with Bank of Baroda from June 2021
• In the Branch Channel, the company continues to increase its base of GRO Partner network to 724 in the quarter ended June 30, 2021 from 393 a year ago. Its products continue to see a strong traction among the small businesses
• In the ecosystem channel, the company added 7 new anchors further bolstering its base for rapid growth. In machinery finance, while there was some disruption due to the COVID 2nd wave the company saw good traction in June & July
• In the Partnership & Alliances channel, the company continued to operationalise more co-lending partnerships. In a first of its kind, company signed a BC Partnership with Prest Loans, that is expected to give a boost to its Micro Loan penetration
• The Company continued to hire additional manpower on the business side in line with its growth plans

The Company is, at this juncture, focused on achieving robust growth while protecting its balance sheet and maintaining its strong liquidity position. Given its healthy capital adequacy, low gross NPA and net NPA, diversified portfolio mix, granular geographical distribution and strong risk metrics, the Company is confident in achieving its growth goals while maintaining its conservative approach.

Mr. Shachindra Nath

Commenting on the results, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital stated -

Q1 FY22 has been a difficult quarter for the entire spectrum of lending firms due to the massive disruption caused by COVID 2nd wave. We followed a focussed approach towards lending and capitalised on opportunities available in the states that were moderately affected. With the receding impact of COVID in June, we rebounded strongly. I’m happy to inform you that in July, we clocked our highest ever monthly disbursement. We will carry on the momentum and traction that we saw in July and remain committed to achieve our 5-year goals. Even on the liability side, our presence continued to expand, and we now have 32 active lenders on our book right now. I’m delighted to share with you the progress that we’ve been making on all fronts.

U Gro Capital to Become the 1st Fintech Lending Platform to Be Listed on Both Stock Exchanges Starting August 11

To get listed on the National Stock Exchange on August 11; was previously listed on Bombay Stock Exchange

Aims to expand access to a larger set of investors and broker network

U GRO Capital, a technology enabled small business lending NBFC, today announced that it will get listed on the National Stock Exchange (NSE) on August 11. The company is listed on Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) and with the NSE listing, the company aims to expand access to a larger set of investors and broker network. U GRO Capital’s fully paid-up 70,528,550 shares with face value of Rs. 10 each, symbol UGROCAP and series EQ, will be admitted to dealings on NSE.

U GRO Capital was instituted in 2017 by Mr. Shachindra Nath, with the buyout of Chokhani Securities Limited. This followed its re-capitalization and rebranding with a Tech-enabled MSME Lending Business model and diverse management team amassing 250 years of combined experience across the financial spectrum. The company has raised approximately INR 920 crore of capital from a diversified set of institutional investors like private equity funds and well-known family offices.

This model of acquiring a small, listed company and raising significant capital to build a FinTech platform was an industry first conceptualization. In most cases, the benefit of value creation through early-stage formation is only available to private investors. This distinctive model was adopted by U GRO Capital to provide the similar benefit to millions of retail investors in public markets.

The company is focused on addressing capital needs of small businesses operating in select eight sectors & Microenterprises by providing customized loan solutions. Towards the realization of the same, the company has built a distinctive technology architecture, a robust and highly efficient distribution channel. This has allowed the company to scale up to 34 branches across 9 states and serve over 9,000 MSME customers, within just three years of operations.

U GRO aspires to build an INR 20,000 Crores of asset under management in next five years and take approximately 1% market share of the outstanding MSME Credit in India by opening around 270 branches with an aim to serve over lacs of small business customers.

Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, U GRO Capital said -

We, at U GRO Capital, are delighted and consider getting listed on National Stock Exchange as a significant milestone. With this development, we aim to expand access to a larger set of investors and broker community. Our progress in three years has resonated well with our mission of solving the unsolved MSME credit gap. Continuing the momentum of achieving significant milestones as this, we plan to acquire 1% market share of the MSME lending business in India in the next five years, thereby creating value for our growing investor community.

U GRO Capital limited is a BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform. The Company is focused on addressing capital needs of small businesses operating in select eight sectors by providing customized loan solutions.

U GRO Capital’s mission is ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – Small Business Credit Need. U GRO Capital believes that the problem of small businesses can be solved by building deep expertise around core sectors of SMEs in India coupled with a data centric, technology-enabled approach.

The Company has raised ~INR 920 crore of capital from a diversified set of private equity funds like institutional investors and well-known family offices.

The Company strives to build a strong SME financing platform based on sectoral understanding supplemented by a fully integrated technology and analytics platform.

Small Biz Lending Fintech Platform U GRO Capital Seeks Patent for its Unique Score-Card based Underwriting Model

• Becomes first fintech player to apply for such patent for its underwriting model
• Aims to target 250,000 small businesses and extend loans basis data analytics amounting to INR 30,000+ crore in next 4 financial years using this model

U GRO Capital, a BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform, today announced that it has filed an application with the Indian Patent Office for its distinguished methods and systems for modelling scorecards. This has allowed the company to penetrate in a highly unstructured segment, which is driven by physical processes. The model tackles the unavailability of appropriate MSME database, by utilizing its unique classification technique leveraging the proprietary knowledge base and strength of statistical models.

The distinctive underwriting model generates credit score cards customized to suit the peculiarities and nuances of varied business enterprises. This is done by analysing the historical loan delinquency patterns and cash flow within each selected business segment. The model’s utility is not restricted to businesses, as it enables effective underwriting of individual borrowers, as well. Further, it facilitates trade financing by providing assessment of downstream and upstream counterparties. Also, it provides a basis for revenue sharing in co-lending arrangements and helps estimate first loss guarantees in securitization of transactions by providing an assessment of the underlying pool.


U GRO Capital has been using this model since inception in 2018. The company has made disbursals of INR 1,700 Cr in the form of secured and unsecured loans. This model is tested to predict superior predictable defaults and improve the GNPA and NNPA levels in comparison to the traditional underwriting model and also improve the bureau defined predictable defaults of different score level. Going forward, the company aims to target 250,000 SME and MSMEs and extend loans amounting to Rs. 30,000+ crore in the coming 4 financial years.

The proprietary statistical scorecards for assessment at various stages have been developed in consultations with CRIF and CRISIL market experts. The model is able to approve credit for business enterprises within minutes, which otherwise would have taken days or weeks. Furthermore, it allows scope for progressive refinement and upgradation such that a newly identified data parameter/ variable can be integrated to derive more accurate output. The distinguished model combined with the organization’s technological capabilities in artificial intelligence and machine learning, has rendered the credit access journey in quick and highly convenient manner.

Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman & Managing Director,U GRO.

Commenting on the patent application, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital stated, “The MSME sector is a significant driver of the Indian economy, yet only 16% of MSMEs in India receive formal credit. A major hindrance to the credit access is the limited availability of structured data pertinent to the MSME sector. We believe that MSME financing in India is at the verge of transformation with the combination of GST, Banking Data and emergence of digital infrastructure which is underpinning this transformation. U GRO Capital’s scorecard based underwriting model lies at the centre of our mission to solve the unsolved credit gap of the SMEs. The underlying methods and system are the convergence of our deep sectoral knowledge base and our analytics capabilities. Our distinctive underwriting model compliments the digitalized processes, to provide a quick and convenient access of credit to our MSME customers."

U GRO Capital limited is a BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform. The Company is focused on addressing capital needs of small businesses operating in select eight sectors by providing customized loan solutions.

U GRO Capital redeems NCDs worth Rs.50 Cr To Pay Back Entire Debt to Sachin Bansal's Firm

U GRO Capital, a BSE listed, technology-enabled small business lending platform, announced that it has decided to redeem non-convertible debentures (NDC) worth Rs.50 crore with the face value of Rs. 10 lakh each before the maturity date. The early redemption of NCDs underlines U GRO Capital’s well-capitalised business model and inherent balance sheet strength at a time when most NBFCs are struggling with liquidity stress. 

The liquidity scenario has worsened in the NBFC sector, as despite offering moratorium to the borrowers in line with the RBI notification, NBFCs haven’t received similar reprieve from the banks. 

are going through liquidity crunch Although the NBFCs have offered moratorium to their borrowers in line with the RBI notification, they haven’t received similar reprieve from the banks to manage the liquidity crunch. However, despite offering moratorium options to its borrowers, U GRO Capital managed to redeem NCDs before the maturity date banking on its conservative asset liability mismatch and liquidity-related policies. 

“In a challenging market scenario, our ability to honour the liability underlines the strength of our business model in withstanding liquidity stress. We maintain the highest level of corporate governance which has led to an extremely conservative asset liability mismatch policy. We have created a granular and diversified liability line which includes multiple terms loans from PSU and private sector banks. We have also actively securitised portfolios. All these have enabled us in facilitating the early redemption of the NCDs in a pretty challenging economic environment,” said Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director, U GRO Capital.  

A Sachin Bansal-owned entity bought NCDs worth Rs.50 crore on October 3, 2019.

U GRO capital is one of the few tech-based small business lending platforms that have received a long-term rating of 'A' with a stable outlook and a short-term rating of 'A1' by Acuité within six months of starting its commercial operations. The company broke even in the first year. 

To Help SMEs Save Electricity Cost, U GRO & Sunvest Capital launch ₹ 20 Cr Rooftop Solar Co-Lending Programme

U GRO Capital, a BSE listed, technology enabled small business lending platform has entered into a co-lending programme with Sunvest Capital, India’s first dedicated rooftop solar financing NBFC, which will catalyse rooftop solar ecosystem and accelerate the efforts towards achieving the ambitious clean energy targets by the government.

Leveraging the expertise and market intelligence of Sunvest and the tech-driven knowledge of U GRO in SME lending, the co-lending programme with a corpus of Rs.20 crore will power the clean energy initiatives with an aim to help the MSMEs save the electricity cost hugely by offering them solar panel finance, besides reducing the carbon footprint in the country.

The collaboration assumes significance as the government has set a renewable energy target of 175 GW by 2022 and solar rooftop energy is expected to contribute 40 GW to the overall target. However, India has so far installed only 10% of its rooftop solar target, leaving a huge potential for growth that is impeded by financial concerns among the MSMEs. 

“We are delighted to join hands with Sunvest Capital. The co-lending programme will combine our knowledge-driven approach (sectoral focus) backed by technology with in-depth solar panel market insights of Sunvest Capital. We look forward to a long-term mutually beneficial relationship with Sunvest Capital to fill this market gap and join the nation-building through carbon mitigation and clean energy promotion,” said Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman, U GRO Capital.

A new-age listed fintech platform, UGRO has already made a mark with its tech-enabled platform to solve the ever-growing credit gap in the SME sector. The company has developed proprietary tools which comprise of customized SME sector specific statistical scorecards, underwriting insights based on deep sub-sector level research put together in a highly integrated technology platform. This helps in getting an in-principle decision for the loan application within 60 minutes. The Company has already disbursed more than US$100mn across 6000+ small businesses in a short span of 10 months. Through the co-lending programme with Sunvest Capital, U GRO Capital aims to create a deeper social impact by facilitating solar panel finance to SMEs so that can reduce electricity overheads. At a broader level, the initiative will promote use of green energy among the SMEs as well to protect the environment sustainability.

“We are excited to partner with U GRO capital in this co-lending arrangement. Sunvest has a deep understanding of the rooftop solar market in India and U GRO has unparalleled expertise in SME lending. With over 400 industrial clusters, MSMEs are the growth engine for India's industrial development and adopting solar energy has numerous economic, social and environmental benefits. Power costs are a big portion of MSME's overall expenditure and access to the right financial products will now help these businesses to go solar,” said Mr. Sishir Garemella, Founder & CEO, Sunvest Capital.

“We believe the timing of our partnership is ideal to capitalize on the long-term lending opportunity in solar and sustainability domains. We are confident that our partnership, a first of its kind, will catalyse the rooftop solar ecosystem. India is serious about tackling climate change and the world is looking at us to take meaningful steps towards carbon mitigation. Innovative financing will have a positive impact on reducing emissions while increasing productivity for small businesses," said Mr. Garemella.

Sunvest Capital brings on board years of deep market intelligence and expertise in rooftop solar segment. Sunvest is leveraging the latest fintech capabilities to provide end consumers a seamless and hassle-free experience. The firm won the US India Clean Energy Finance grant in 2018.