Ahmedabad- and Bangalore-based fin-tech company Lendingkart Group has appointed Utsav Mehrotra, a former Axis Capital executive, as vice president of capital markets, and Abhishek Arora, formerly of Middle-Eastern e-tailer Souq, as vice president of revenue and operations.
Mehrotra will spearhead initiatives related to fundraising and the marketplace, and will be responsible for developing the liability end of the business, a company statement said.
Arora will be responsible for running the operations and revenue verticals, where he will be entrusted with streamlining functions such as origination operations, delivery and process optimisation, the press note added.
“They (Mehrotra and Arora) bring in extensive experience with large businesses that will be critical in steering us as we move ahead, innovating to meet the funding requirements of SMEs,†said Harshvardhan Lunia, chief executive and co-founder of Lendingkart.
Earlier this month, VCCircle reported that Lendingkart Finance, the NBFC arm of the company, elevated its vice president of finance Piyush Kabra as the company’s chief financial officer.
An IIM-Bangalore alumnus, Mehrotra was earlier vice president at Axis Capital, the investment banking division of Axis Bank group. Prior to that, he worked with Enam Securities, which was later amalgamated with Axis to become Axis Capital.
An MBA from ISB, Arora was previously part of the UAE-based e-commerce major Souq, heading its seller management and growth vertical for the Middle East and North Africa region. His prior stints include Amazon India’s e-commerce marketplace and Citibank.
Lendingkart Group was founded in 2014 by Lunia and Mukul Sachan. It operates two entities—Lendingkart Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Lendingkart Finance (formerly Aadri Infin Ltd).
Lendingkart Technologies handles technology and digital marketing. It has developed tools based on big data analytics that help lenders evaluate borrower’s creditworthiness. The entity has raised more than $40 million in equity financing from Bertelsmann India, Darrin Capital Management, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient, and Anicut Capital.
Lendingkart Finance underwrites loans for small and medium enterprises from its own books. The entity provides entrepreneurs collateral-free working capital loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh. The company has helped disburse 12,000 loans across more than 700 cities in India.
In an interview with VCCircle last month, Lunia said that the company planned to raise an additional Rs 500 crore in debt and disburse Rs 1,500-1,600 crore worth of loans in 2017-18.
