Mumbai, 16 April 2019 : P2P lending firm RupeeCircle is now officially a part of Bharat Inclusion Initiative – an inclusion drive of IIM Ahmedabad’s Centre for Innovation, Incubation and Entrepreneurship (CIIE)which is supported by Bill And Melinda Gates Foundation, JP Morgan, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and Omidyar Network. This marks yet another milestone in the bouquet of accolades for India’s most trusted P2P lending start-up. Earlier this year, RupeeCircle became the first P2P lending firm in 2019 to be licensed NBFC-P2P by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).
Speaking on the achievement Ajit Kumar, Founder and CEO, RupeeCircle, said, “It is an honour that our work and commitment towards financial inclusion has been recognized by the esteemed panel at CIIE. Ever since inception, we at RupeeCircle have been focused towards making credit accessible to the low and medium income groups as well as the under-banked masses in India.” RupeeCircle, backed by Mahindra Finance, has disbursed over 35 million INR in a span of less than 2 years. “Our strong credit underwriting practises and technology driven approach has made credit accessible to people faster and affordable”, said Ajit.
“The mentorship programme of Bharat Inclusion Initiative will give us the opportunity to connect with industry expertsand utilize their insights to reach out to hitherto untapped market segments. The selection of RupeeCircle also fortifies the importance of P2P lending companies in driving financial inclusion in India”, said Abhishek Gandhi, Co-Founder & CFO, RupeeCircle.
RupeeCircle’s online P2P marketplace & mobile App has seen thousands of lenders as well as borrowers registered over the last few months. “After passing out from IIM Ahmedabad, driving financial inclusion with Fintech solutions at RupeeCircle has been one of the most important assignments that I have worked upon. Getting an endorsement from IIM Ahmedabad will really help us in leveraging technology for driving financial inclusion efforts further” said Nikhil Prabhakar, Head of Marketing & Products, RupeeCircle. Bharat Inclusion Initiative was set up to help innovative enterprises permeate inclusion solutions (financial, livelihood, education and health) across different strata of society inTier-2 and Tier-3 cities, and rural areas of India. By leveraging technology, companies can deliver financial products at reduced cost structures to previously unviable markets. However, these markets need unique products and customised business models to succeed. Bharat Inclusion commits capital, knowledge, and strategic as well as tactical guidance critical for emerging startups.
Speaking on the selection of RupeeCircle, Sandeep Koujalgi, VP, CIIE, said, “We’re excited to support RupeeCircle through BII’s Financial Inclusion Lab. P2P lending has tremendous potential to enable India’s underserved to access credit. The Lab will add to RupeeCircle’s strengths in credit underwriting for the unbanked and underbanked segments, and will provide it with the mentoring, market access, field insights and other support it needs for rapid and sustainable scale up.”