Kinara Capital: Firm bridges credit gap for have-nots of the Indian economy

The idea of Kinara Capital germinated when Hardika Shah, the fintech’s founder and CEO, became aware of the credit gap that afflicts the Indian micro-small-medium-enterprise (MSME) sector. “In part, I was also inspired by something that I had experienced early on in life, and which had stayed with me. My mother had entrepreneurial leanings and ran a small business when I was growing up. I saw how difficult it was for her to build her venture due to lack of financing,” says Shah.

Prior to starting Kinara Capital, Shah spent 20+ years as a management consultant with Accenture, leading large teams and executing complex projects for global companies in the US, EU and Asia-Pacific. “Despite the economic reforms that India has undergone over the past two decades, small business owners continue to face many of the same challenges they always have, particularly lack of access to financing. There are over 60 million MSMEs in India that provide jobs to over 120 million people, yet most formal lending institutions do not lend to them, especially without property collateral. I wanted to do something to change that,” she says.

Kinara Capital is a fast-growing MSME fintech driving vast financial inclusion of small business entrepreneurs. “We offer both an end-to-end digital option with our vernacular myKinara app and doorstep customer service in 90+ cities across six states in India. Our efforts have also supported over 250,000 jobs in local economies and led to over Rs 700 crore of incremental income for small business entrepreneurs,” she says.

With its myKinara app, the fintech allows an MSME entrepreneur to go from a loan eligibility check to loan disbursement within 24 hours. Shah says, “With our own proprietary risk-assessment methodologies, we make AI/ML data-driven credit decisions and have introduced digitisation at all steps of the process, including digital KYC, e-stamping, and e-signing of loan sanctioning documents. We also offer 400+ tech-based digital wallet payment options for customers to make their EMI payments.”

Kinara Capital has disbursed Rs 3,000 crore across 75,000 collateral-free business loans to date. With a current AUM of Rs 1,200 crore, it plans to grow 5x by 2025 and achieve an AUM of Rs 6,000 crore. “In the new fiscal year, we have committed Rs 200 crore to HerVikas discounted business loans for women entrepreneurs,” reveals Shah, adding, “we are expanding our presence in our existing geographies with a special focus on reaching MSMEs in tier-II & III cities.”

QUOTE
Our efforts have supported over 250,000 jobs in local economies and led to over Rs 700 crore of incremental income for small business entrepreneurs”
Hardika Shah,
founder and CEO, Kinara Capital

SPREADING ITS WINGS

* To date, Kinara has disbursed over Rs 3,000 crore across 75,000+ loans in 90+ urban, peri-urban and rural locations in India.

* The social impact of the company’s financial inclusion solutions has led to incremental income generation of `700 crore for small business entrepreneurs, and supported more than 250,000 jobs.

* Kinara is also empowering women entrepreneurs through HerVikas scheme. It has committed to disbursing `200 crore to women-led MSMEs in FY22-23.

* It is driving financial literacy by spreading awareness to first-time loan applicants in vernacular languages. Its myKinara app uses the vernacular medium to disburse loans

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