SUMMARY
- Jai Kisan, a rural-area-focused fintech company, has recently obtained an NBFC license, following its acquisition of a 51% stake in a supply chain finance firm Kushal Finnovation Capital.
- This new NBFC license opens up new opportunities for Jai Kisan, allowing it to offer a range of financial services, including loans, to its clients.
- The Mumbai-based fintech will be able to participate in co-lending with other financial institutions and collaborate with public sector banks in India.
Jai Kisan, a rural-area-focused fintech company, has recently obtained a non-banking financial company (NBFC) license, following its acquisition of a 51% stake in Kushal Finnovation Capital, a supply chain finance firm.
According to reports from ET, this new NBFC license opens up new opportunities for Jai Kisan, allowing it to offer a range of financial services, including loans, to its clients. Additionally, the company will be able to participate in co-lending with other financial institutions and collaborate with public sector banks in India.
Jai Kisan’s cofounder and CEO Arjun Ahluwalia, also serves as a non-executive director for Kushal Finnovation. Previously, the company had operated under agreements with banking entities and NBFCs through its portal, but with this new license, it plans to develop and offer its own unique financial solutions directly to farmers and rural entrepreneurs, as mentioned by Ahluwalia.
Established in 2020 by Arjun Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego, Jai Kisan is a neo bank dedicated to serving rural India, providing credit products for both online and offline businesses. The bank aims to be a comprehensive provider of banking services to individuals living in rural areas of the country.
In April 2020, Jai Kisan launched Bharat Khata, a digital lending platform for rural businesses, which saw a significant increase in its customer base by 400% in the first three months of its BNPL credit solution. Notably, Fi, a Bengaluru-based neobank based, secured its NBFC license from the Reserve Bank of India in the same month.
The NBFC license is seen as a significant step forward for the Mumbai-based fintech, especially with the Reserve Bank of India’s recent focus on regulating fintech companies.
Ahluwalia was cited saying, “The NBFC licence allows us to cater to our farmer and rural business customers with credit products they want, how they want them, when they want them and where they want them – which is what they deserve.”
Ahluwalia has also mentioned the company’s plans to seek additional funding in the next two to three quarters to support the operations of its NBFC. However, he has not disclosed the exact amount of the fundraising.
The company’s most recent fundraising event took place in 2022, raising $85.4 million or approximately Rs 717 crore.
