udaanCapital partners with Northern Arc to extend credit line to over 50,000 kirana stores

“Our mission has been to empower and drive Kirana e-commerce by providing formal credit to the small retailers of our country. We have always believed that the right solution to closing the working capital gap in small retailers lies in taking a trade-centric view to risk management - and just as importantly helping our lender partners take a similar view,” said Chaitanya Adapa, Head, udaanCapital.

“In Northern Arc we found a like-minded partner, who shared our vision and came on board at a very early stage. I am very happy to see our partnership hit this milestone of putting productive capital in the hands of 50,000 small businesses,” Adapa added.

Financial services platform Northern Arc provides credit to MSMEs, households, financial institutions and emerging businesses. Over the past year, it has disbursed over 5 million loans across business loans, personal loans and BNPL facilities, through a completely digital journey.

“At Northern Arc, we aim to be pioneers in finding innovative solutions to enable finance for MSMEs and the next billion households. We do this directly and through exciting partners like udaan,” said Ashish Mehrotra, MD and CEO, Northern Arc Capital. “We are delighted to have joined forces with udaanCapital since their early days and meeting the credit needs of over 50,000 kirana stores across the country.”

By leveraging its data insights and scorecards, Northern Arc has cumulatively raised over Rs 1 trillion in funds for its clients since the inception of its platform in 2009.

Along with its asset management subsidiary that manages seven AIFs (alternative investment funds), the company manages a total AUM (assets under management) of over Rs 9,000 crore. It is backed by marquee equity investors like Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation, LeapFrog, IIFL, Accion, Augusta Investments (known as Affirma Capital), Dvara Trust and Eight Roads.