Mahindra Finance forays into MSME focused co-lending partnership with Lendingkart

Mumbai: Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited, (MMFSL), part of the Mahindra Group, and one of India’s leading NBFCs today announced a collaboration with Lendingkart, a pioneer in financial services and one of India’s leading fintech companies. This co-lending partnership is set to provide business loans for the Small & Medium Enterprise (SME) sector and will boost Mahindra Finance’s product diversification strategy, while fostering financial inclusion for small and medium enterprises.

This pan India collaboration marks Mahindra Finance’s foray into the co-lending space exclusively for the SME sector under an 80:20 structure, where Lendingkart will leverage its tech platform Lendingkart 2gthr. Lendingkart 2gthr, the company’s flagship E2E platform will power the entire customer journey from origination to underwriting, disbursals, and collections.

Raul Rebello, MD&CEO - Designate, Mahindra Finance, said, "The SME sector is one of the fastest growing sectors, witha need for timely access to credit. Through this co-lending initiative, our collective objective is to transform credit decisioning, boost assesibility and create financial agility in the SME space. Together with Lendingkart, we aim to provide comprehensive and competitive financial solutions to the SME sector in our journey to be a responsible financial solution partner to emerging India”.

Harshvardhan Lunia, Founder & CEO, Lendingkart Group, mentioned, "MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy, there’s no doubt about that. Over the last few years, Lendingkart has consistently pushed the envelope in digital lending and empowered MSMEs pan-India. We are proud of partnering with thousands of business owners every single day by making access to credit fast, transparent, and unbiased. This co-lending partnership with Mahindra Finance is a testament to our focus on fostering collaboration in the Indian financial ecosystem to better serve the underservedMSMEs and serve the national mission of financial inclusion. Together with Mahindra Finance, we will leverage our knowledge and expertise to simplify finance for an emerging India.”

Through this initiative, SME businesses will be able to capitalize on Mahindra Finance’s hyperlocal schemes and Lendingkart’s expertise as an MSME finance specialist thus creating a synergy that will positively impact SMEs seeking timely financial support.Recognizing the dynamic nature of the financial landscape, the collaboration is envisioned as a long-term commitment, with the initial agreement spanning across three years.

About Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited

Mahindra & Mahindra Financial Services Limited (Mahindra Finance), part of the Mahindra Group, is one of India’s leading non-banking finance companies. Focused on the rural and semi-urban sector, the Company has over 9.8 million customers and has an AUM of over USD 11 Billion. The Company is a leading vehicle and tractor financier, provides loans to SMEs and also offers fixed deposits. The Company has 1,369 offices and reaches out to customers spread over 3,80,000 villages and 7,000 towns across the country.

Mahindra Finance has been ranked 59th among India’s Best Companies to Work 2023 by Great Place to Work Institute.

Mahindra Insurance Brokers Limited (MIBL) a wholly owned subsidiary, is the Company's Insurance Broking subsidiary is a licensed Composite Broker providing Direct and Reinsurance broking services.

Mahindra Rural Housing Finance Limited (MRHFL) a subsidiary of Mahindra Finance provides loans for purchase, renovation, construction of houses to individuals in the rural and semi-urban areas of the country.

Mahindra Finance CSR Foundation is a wholly owned subsidiary company, under the provisions of section 8 of the Companies Act, 2013 for undertaking the CSR activities of the Company and its subsidiaries.

Mahindra Manulife Investment Management Private Limited acts as the Investment Manager of Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund.

Mahindra Manulife Trustee Private Limited (MMTPL), acts as a Trustee to Mahindra Manulife Mutual Fund.

Mahindra Ideal Finance Limited (MIFL) is a subsidiary of the Company in Sri Lanka, in which the Company owns 58.2% stake. MIFL focuses on providing a diversified suite of financial services to the Sri Lankan market.

The Company has a Joint Venture in the US, Mahindra Finance USA LLC, in partnership with De Lage Landen, a subsidiary of Rabo Bank, for financing Mahindra vehicles in the US.

Learn more about Mahindra Finance on www.mahindrafinance.com / Twitter and Facebook:

@MahindraFin

About Mahindra

Founded in 1945, the Mahindra Group is one of the largest and most admired multinational federation of companies with 260,000 employees in over 100 countries. It enjoys a leadership position in farm equipment, utility vehicles, information technology and financial services in India and is the world’s largest tractor company by volume. It has a strong presence in renewable energy, agriculture, logistics, hospitality and real estate.

The Mahindra Group has a clear focus on leading ESG globally, enabling rural prosperity and enhancing urban living, with a goal to drive positive change in the lives of communities and stakeholders to enable them to Rise.

Learn more about Mahindra on www.mahindra.com / Twitter and Facebook: @MahindraRise/ For updates subscribe to https://www.mahindra.com/news-room

About Lendingkart

Lendingkart is one of India’s leading digital lending fintech startups. Founded in 2014 by Harshvardhan Lunia, Lendingkart has offices in Ahmedabad, Bengaluru, Mumbai, Gurugram, the companyhas service reach across India. The group is financed by reputed international investors like Fullerton Financial Holding (FFH) (100% subsidiary of Singapore Sovereign Fund Temasek Holdings), Bertelsmann, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, Sistema Asia, India Quotient, and others and has raised around ₹ 1050 Crores of equity till date.

The Company has developed technology tools based on big data analysis and machine learning algorithms which facilitate lenders to evaluate borrower's creditworthiness and provide other related services.

Lendingkart Group is on a mission to make credit available to MSMEs pan-India using technology and alternate data-first approaches. The company has built a proprietary platform to solve for the basic building blocks of MSME financing like distribution, origination, underwriting, engagement, and collections, and by democratizing access to this platform by providing open access to APIs across the funnel.

Since its inception, Lendingkart Group has evaluated nearly half a million applications, disbursing over 2,80,000+ loansin 4000+ cities and towns across all states and union territories of India, making it an NBFC having the largest geographical footprint in the country. To date, Lendingkart has disbursed over USD 1.7 billion worth of loans.

To know more, please visit www.lendingkart.com