Fintech firm Progcap, which provides corporate-led financing solutions for small and mid-size businesses (SMBs) in India, disbursed over Rs 3,000 crore in credit during this Diwali season. This is a growth of 300 percent from the preceding year, above the nearly 4x scaleup that the company saw in 2021.
The Google-backed company, founded by Pallavi Shrivastava and Himanshu Chandra, also turned profitable this quarter. Progcap, that works towards facilitating loans for businesses which do not otherwise have any formal credit record, has provided last-mile credit solutions of over Rs 10,000 crore, working with over 800,000 small and medium-sized business. The lending is done by its partners Muthoot Finance, Credit Saison and Star Finserv.
“It is encouraging to see a healthy economic recovery post COVID. However, the growth has been uneven across customer segments. Demand for premium products held strong in comparison to mass goods across categories, indicating lower income households feeling the pinch of high inflation more which is consequently hitting the demand. Entry level segment may continue to see muted growth over the next few quarters,” said co-founder, Himanshu Chandra.
In its Series C funding round, led by Google, the company was valued at $600 million. Progcap aims to continue the growth momentum and attain more than Rs 5,000 crore book size in the mid-term, the company stated, adding that other key plans include taking the company towards listing in a few years.