Delhi-headquartered microfinance startup SATYA MicroCapital has raised about $18 million (Rs 135 crore) through non-convertible debentures (NCDs) from impact investment fund manager responsAbility Investments and Swiss impact investor, BlueOrchard Finance Limited.
About Rs 55 crore funds managed by Blue Orchard was disbursed in June and July 2021, and the remaining Rs 80 crore was made available recently by responsAbility Investments, SATYA MicroCapital said in a statement on Wednesday.
The company said, it will use the debt funds to back the liquidity needs of small and micro entrepreneurs and individual clients, helping their businesses recover from operational crises induced by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The pandemic has negatively impacted the small and micro entrepreneurs across the entire nation. Without adequate financial support it’s a very challenging task for them to come out of pandemic induced roadblocks. Post surpassing second wave of Covid-19, the immediate requirement is to salvage the businesses and assist them in returning to normalcy. The unbanked population will look to the microfinance sector to help them resume their normal lives,” Vivek Tiwari, MD, CIO & CEO, Satya MicroCapital Ltd, said in a statement.
“This [the funding] will enable Satya to achieve its vision of providing financial assistance to 5 million households by the year 2025 with an exponential speed,” he added.
Prior to the current round, SATYA MicroCapital had raised about $21 million in equity funding from Japan-based impact investor Gojo & Company Inc. in February this year.
SATYA claims to have registered strong growth by catering to more than 5 lakh borrowers within less than five years of its establishment in October 2016. Till date, the NBFC has enabled debt financing of Rs3,225 crore for its clients. It has a workforce of over 2,700 people across 177 districts with 245 operational branches in 21 states of the country.