Women-focussed microlender Mitrata Inclusive Financial Services Pvt. Ltd has raised Series A funding from a clutch of individual investors.
Sadaf Sayeed, chief executive officer at Muthoot Microfin, was one of the investors in Mitrata, the company said in a statement. It did not disclose the financial details.
Mitrata, formerly known as Sona Finance Pvt. Ltd, provides credit facility primarily to rural women in India for their economic empowerment. It started as a programme for prevention of child labour in Moradabad, Uttar Pradesh and made its first loan disbursal of Rs 2,500 in January 2010. It later expanded its operations to Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, according to its website.
Private investment activity in the NBFC segment is happening even as the sector continues to face a liquidity crunch that began after infrastructure developer and financier IL&FS Ltd collapsed last year.
Last month, non-bank lender Kogta Financial (India) Ltd raised Rs 300 crore (about $42.3 million) in a Series C round of funding led by new private equity investor Creador.
In September, digital lending platform LoanTap, which offers loans and overdraft products to salaried professionals, raised $12 million in a Series B investment led by Avaana Capital, an Indian venture-growth investment firm.
Flipkart co-founder Sachin Bansal acquired Chaitanya Rural Intermediation Development Services Pvt. Ltd by investing Rs 739 crore (about $104 million) in the company and taking charge as its CEO.
