Indifi Technologies helps Small Businesses to Secure Loans

Indifi Technologies is a SME lending platform for enabling debt-financing for small businesses. It aims to substantially improve the experience for borrowers regarding the speed of approval and disbursement, the convenience of the loan process, the relevance of the loan product to their business needs, and finding the best rates in the market. Driven by the idea of establishing or automating MSME financing in India, Indifi has emerged as an enabler for start-ups and small businesses to seek seamless access to funding.

Most SMEs do not have a strong credit data footprint when it comes to debt financing. They tend to be excluded from the formal financial system, especially if they can’t offer collateral.

“The idea was simple – solving the problem of lending for the millions of the fragmented SMB sector in India. The insight – small business data is available in supply chains and not in credit systems. Indifi was setup in June 2015 and became operational in October 2015. With initial proof of concept in place, we raised a Series B round of $10 Mn in December 2016 which was led by Omidyar Network, and with participation from our existing investors" said Alok Mittal CEO &CO-Founder, Indifi Technologies.

"What exists in the market as platforms are primarily NBFC’s in the digital space which do not have the kind of multi-lender capabilities that Indifi has. Also, we are focusing heavily on bringing segment-specific products to the market. Finally, innovation and investment in our credit engine is a key to addressing the underserved base of SMEs. As a platform, we tend to think about how to solve for a broad spectrum of demand and credit profiles, rather than having to pick a narrow band," he further added.

Indifi Technologies acts as a mediator between Lenders and SMEs

Indifi Technologies works with lenders to provide them with full customer lifecycle management and charges them a fee based on products availed by the customer. Lenders would incur an operating cost if they were to run the complete customer lifecycle; they now pay that to Indifi for managing it.

"With seven lenders on board, we work in partnerships with banks & NBFC. Lenders gain by getting access to new segments and tighter linkages into the business flows. Customers gain by seamless access to financing products that fit their use case and process flows. This allows for co-creation of new business models by Fintech companies and banks, which will define the basis of the additional terms of engagement of a customer with their financial service providers" added Mittal.

Recently Indifi Technologies has tied up with Online food delivery start-up Swiggy to provide working capital loans to its restaurant partners. The financing program named Swiggy Capital Assist will provide collateral-free loans without initial deposits.

Mittal concluded by saying that "we expect to see more such models that focus on co-creating value for customers. Currently, we have YES Bank, RBL and IDFC onboard as lenders. On the NBFC front, we have Edelweiss, IndiaInfoline, Capital First, Aditya Birla Finance. With our segment specific focus on customer side, currently we are serving segments including Travel, Hospitality, Retail, E-commerce and are actively exploring other segments. In 2-3 years, we will grow multiple fold in terms of borrowers we serve, and consequently in terms of revenue."