MicroVest today announced a $7 million investment in UGro Capital, an India-based lending-tech startup that utilizes data science to provide credit solutions to underserved MSMEs. The investment seeks to enhance UGro’s capacity to offer financing to more small businesses in India, facilitating easier and more responsible access to funding.
Approximately 64 million MSMEs in India employ more than 110 million individuals (second to only the agricultural sector in population employed). Despite the sector’s importance, MSMEs in India currently face a massive credit gap, estimated to be around $530 billion.
Founded in 2018 as India’s first listed startup, UGro Capital provides secured and unsecured loans, machine finance, supply chain finance, and working capital loans to small businesses operating in the healthcare, education, chemicals, food processing, hospitality, electrical equipment, auto components, and engineering sectors. The company has pioneered the “Lending as a Service” model in India and effectively operationalized co-lending relationships with 10+ large public sector banks and large non-bank financial companies. Today UGro’s 1,700 employees serve more than 46,000 small businesses and maintain 95+ physical branches.
This is MicroVest’s first investment in UGro.