Funding story
In a move which is likely to be a huge boost for a significant array of businesses, SME Loan lending startup Aye Finance has claimed to receive Rs. 20 crore from Accion International. Accion is a nonprofit organization which provides financial support to small and medium scale industries. Given how tumultuous it is for most SMEs to secure funding, this news will be greeted by many with great jubilation.
About Aye Finance’s services
Aye Finance has been involved primarily in the financing of smaller businesses and industries. Accion and other existing investors had previously been involved in injecting Rs.6 crore into Aye Finance earlier this year. This allowed them to reach out to 30,000 small businesses and industries, including the likes of shoemakers and sports goods manufacturers in Agra and Ludhiana respectively.
Aye Finance firmly believes that there is a huge amount of potential waiting to be tapped in the MSME segment. Over 58 million micro enterprises are in need of Rs. 5 trillion, according to Aye. With banks and conventional lending institutions typically refusing to lend to the informally documented segment, the time is ripe for the likes of Aye to step up to the task.
Aye provides a number of exciting financing offers for SMEs of all kinds. For instance, for micro businesses, there are 3 kinds of loans—mortgage loans, hypothecation loans and add-on loans. The amounts, repayment durations and interest rates of each loan varies, depending on the type. Aye Finance also has extremely transparent and accommodating requirements, which ensure that the maximum number of SMEs can be benefited, while allowing only those entities which meet stringent quality requirements to be financed.
Progress and future prospects
Founded by Sanjay Sharma and Vikram Jetley in 2013, Aye Finance has already succeeded in disbursing loans worth Rs. 25 crore to over 2,000 borrowers. A very many of its clients have been village-level entrepreneurs, including artisans and traditional craftsmen. Having secured a significant amount of funding this year, Aye Finance now seeks to greatly expand its reach, and expand to over Rs. 200 crore over the next year—an ambitious goal, but something which is well within the reach of Aye’s grand vision, which is guided by innovation and a desire to serve.
To know more about Aye Finance, visit its website here.
