Kinara Capital closes Rs 200 cr in fresh equity, led by British investment firm

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], October 29 (ANI/NewsVoir): Kinara Capital, a fast-growing fintech for India's small business entrepreneurs, today announced closing a fresh equity round of Rs ~200 crores led by British International Investment (BII), the UK's development finance institution and impact investor.
Existing equity investors Nuveen and the ASN Microkredietfonds advised by Triple Jump also participated in this round. This equity investment will aim to propel Kinara Capital to grow 5x by 2025 and reach an AUM of Rs 6,000 crores by democratizing access to formal financial inclusion with its myKinara App.
More than 300 MSME sub-sectors across Manufacturing, Trading, and Services sectors can digitally avail myKinara collateral-free business loans in the range of Rs 1-30 lakhs. Powered by the advanced use of AI/ML, the company's myKinara App can take small business entrepreneurs from loan decision-to-disbursement within 24-hours.
Kinara Capital plans to reach over 2,00,000 MSMEs across 100+ cities in India in the next three years. The social impact of this growth is expected to support over 1 million jobs in local economies and generate over Rs 3,000 crores in incremental income for small business entrepreneurs.
Kinara Capital's other main equity investors include Gaja Capital, GAWA Capital, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), and Patamar Capital. Edelweiss Financial Services Limited acted as the exclusive advisor for the transaction.
Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India, said, "Women-led Fintech Company Kinara champions female empowerment and provides easier access to capital for small entrepreneurs across India. The British Government is proud to support the company through BII's investment. The UK remains committed to solving the biggest global development challenges by supporting sustainable and inclusive economic outcomes for all."
Hardika Shah, Founder & CEO, Kinara Capital, said, "We are honored to onboard British International Investment (BII) as our latest equity investor. The combined expertise and capital infusion from BII, Nuveen and Triple Jump, will expand Kinara Capital's offerings to meet the rising demand of the MSME sector in India. This year, India's GDP growth has exceeded pre-pandemic levels signifying the resilience and growth prospects of small business entrepreneurs. With this support, we, at Kinara Capital, are further motivated to deliver on our mission of financial inclusion."
Manav Bansal, Managing Director and Head of India, British International Investment, said, "BII seeks to invest in companies that demonstrate strong development impact capacity and offer tech-enabled innovative solutions with high potential for scalability. Kinara Capital meets these criteria, and we are especially excited by its commitment to helping to expand financial inclusion to MSMEs, including increasing women's access to finance which in turn promotes women's entrepreneurship. I am pleased that our flexible capital will help boost productivity within India's MSME sector and facilitate entrepreneurial growth that will continue to transform the nation's economy."
Rekha Unnithan, Managing Director & Co-head of Private Impact Investing, Nuveen, said, "We value our commitment to Kinara Capital, so it is a great joy to collaborate with British International Investment (BII) who share our undertaking to drive financial inclusion in India with a digital-first approach. We are happy to participate in this round of investment for Kinara Capital who we consider to be at the forefront of driving financial inclusion with its digital processes combined with a personalized approach."
Orsolya Farkas, Equity Manager, Triple Jump, said, "We gladly participated in this round of investment for Kinara Capital, led by British International Investment (BII). We believe that this round will give an additional boost to Kinara's expansion plans to extend formal financial inclusion to thousands of MSMEs in India. We are glad to be a part of this growth journey and believe that Kinara Capital has the right combination of technology and tactics for an impactful shift for small business entrepreneurs, particularly women entrepreneurs."
Kinara Capital is woman-founded and women-led, and qualifies under the 2X Challenge - an initiative launched by the development finance institutions (DFIs) of the G7 to deploy and mobilise capital to support projects that empower women as entrepreneurs, business leaders, employees and consumers. To further gender inclusivity in the MSME sector, Kinara Capital has extended an automatic discount to all women entrepreneurs with its HerVikas program.
Kinara Capital adheres to international Environmental, Social, Governance (ESG) standards for financial service providers, particularly the International Finance Corporation Performance Standards (IFC PS), Client Protection Pathway (CPP), United Nations Women Empowerment Principles (UN WEP), and is committed to advancing United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UN SDGs) with financial inclusion.
British International Investment is the new name for the UK's development finance institution and was formerly known as CDC Group. British International Investment is a trusted investment partner to businesses in Africa, Asia and the Caribbean.
It invests between £1.5 and £2 billion every year to support the UK Government's Clean Green Initiative and to create productive, sustainable and inclusive economies in our markets. British International Investment plays a key role in the UK Government's wider plans to mobilise up to £8 billion a year of public and private sector investment in international projects by 2025.
Over the next five years, at least 30 per cent of BII's total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. This will make it one of the world's largest climate investors in Africa. BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised US $10bn to empower women's economic development. The company has investments in over 1,300 businesses in emerging economies and total assets of £7.7 billion.
For more information, please visit: www.bii.co.uk | watch here.
Nuveen, the investment manager of TIAA, offers a comprehensive range of outcome-focused investment solutions designed to secure the long-term financial goals of institutional and individual investors. Nuveen has $1.1 trillion in assets under management as of 3o June 2022 and operations in 27 countries. Its investment specialists offer deep expertise across a comprehensive range of traditional and alternative investments through a wide array of vehicles and customized strategies.
For more information, please visit nuveen.com
Triple Jump is a Dutch impact-focused investment manager that provides meaningful and responsible investment opportunities in emerging markets. The funds managed and advised by Triple Jump provide financing for companies focusing on financial inclusion, affordable housing, missing middle finance (SMEs), and climate and nature. The ASN Microkredietfonds is a listed and regulated microfinance investment fund investing in financial inclusion in Africa, Asia, Europe and Latin America.
For more information, please visit www.triplejump.eu
Kinara Capital is a fast-growing fintech propelling financial inclusion of small business entrepreneurs in India. Kinara Capital has disbursed INR 3,500 crores to date across 75,000+ collateral-free business loans thereby enabling vast financial inclusion of the underserved small business entrepreneurs in India.
Leading with a women-majority management team, Kinara Capital has raised the bar for gender inclusivity in financial services and is globally recognized for disrupting small business lending in India.
The company is qualified as a Systemically Important NBFC by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and is a debt-listed entity on the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE). Founded in 2011, and headquartered in Bangalore, Kinara Capital today has 125 branches serving MSMEs across 100+ cities in India with a workforce of 1,600+ employees.
Visit kinaracapital.com for more information and follow us on Twitter @KinaraCapital.
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