Rural-focussed FinTech startup Jai Kisan has broadened its financial services by acquiring a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) licence. This development follows the company’s acquisition of a majority stake in Kushal Finnovation Capital, an NBFC specialising in supply chain financing.
With the new licence, Jai Kisan intends to offer customised financial products, including loans from its own portfolio, and to form co-lending partnerships with financial institutions, including public sector banks in India.
Arjun Ahluwalia, Co-Founder and CEO, Jai Kisan, who also serves as a non-executive director at Kushal Finnovation Capital, highlighted the transformative potential of this move. Previously, Jai Kisan’s financial services were limited to products offered by partner banks and NBFCs through its platform. However, with the new NBFC licence, the company can now directly create and deliver tailored financial solutions to farmers and rural businesses across India.
“Nearly a billion people live in India’s rural areas. Positive government reforms and the widespread availability of affordable data and smartphones have made rural India as connected as urban areas. The NBFC license enables us to provide our farmer and rural business customers with the credit products they need, on their terms, at the right time and place – which they rightly deserve,” said Ahluwalia.
Founded in 2017 by Arjun Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego, Jai Kisan is a technology-driven financial services platform dedicated to serve rural businesses, individuals and farmers. The platform has created a digital ecosystem that connects corporates, rural intermediaries (distributors, retailers and suppliers) and financial institutions (banks and NBFCs) to facilitate supply chain financing and Buy-Now-Pay-Later (BNPL) options for agricultural inputs and equipment.
To bolster its governance and risk management, the company has expanded its advisory board, bringing on senior bankers such as Arvind Kathpalia, Former Group President and Chief Risk Officer, Kotak Mahindra Bank, as Senior Credit Risk Advisor, and Ravi Duvvuru, Former President and Chief Compliance Officer, Jana Small Finance Bank, as Senior Advisor on governance and regulatory compliance.
In 2022, Jai Kisan secured $50 million in equity and debt as part of the first tranche of its Series B round. The round included new investors such as GMO Venture Partners, Yara Growth Ventures and DG Daiwa Ventures, along with existing investors Blume Ventures, Arkam Ventures, Mirae Asset and Snow Leopard Ventures.
Looking ahead, Ahluwalia mentioned that the company is planning a new fund-raising round within the next two to three quarters to support the operationalisation of the NBFC, although specific details regarding the amount have not been disclosed.
“Jai Kisan can now scale more rapidly within the regulatory framework provided by the licence. This enables it to access more credit directly and disburse funds faster to its rural customers. As early investors in Jai Kisan, we view this as a significant step towards building a financial institution focussed on rural India,” commented Rahul Chandra, Managing Director, Arkam Ventures.
