Fintech Startup Jai Kisan Gets NBFC Licence Post Acquisition

Fintech company Jai Kisan, Rural fintech startup. After acquiring a majority position in supply chain financing firm Kushal Finnovation Capital, Jai Kisan is purportedly in the process of obtaining a license as a non-banking finance company (NBFC).

Jai Kisan is now able to provide customized financial solutions, including loans from its own portfolio, thanks to this new NBFC license, according to a report by ET. The business would also have the option to collaborate on loans with other financial organizations, such as Indian public sector banks.

“We can provide our farmer and rural business customers with the loan products they want, when they want them, where they want them, and how they want them—which is what they deserve,” Ahluwalia stated in the report by a newspaper.

According to the newspaper, which quoted Ahluwalia, Jai Kisan was previously only able to provide services through its portal in collaboration with NBFCs and banks under agreements. However, with the new licence, the business is now able to directly develop and offer customized financial solutions to farmers and other rural companies.

It is important to remember that Arjun Ahluwalia, cofounder and CEO of Jai Kisan, serves as a non-executive director of Kushal Finnovation Capital.

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Jai Kisan is a rural India-focused neo bank that was founded in 2020 by Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego. It provides loan solutions in both online and offline rural commerce contexts. Its goal is to provide full-stack financial services to rural people both as individuals as well as businesses.

Jai Kisan introduced Bharat Khata, a digital lender for small-town enterprises, in April 2020. The firm claims to have grown its customer base by 400% in the first three months using its BNPL credit solution.

Jai Kisan says that since its founding, it has worked with more than 350 corporations, aided over one lakh rural companies, supported over eight lakh farmers, and made it easier to disburse more than Rs 6,000 crore.

The company has also added more senior bankers to its advisory board, including former group president and chief risk officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank Arvind Kathpalia as a senior advisor on credit risk and former president and chief compliance officer of Jana Small Finance Bank Ravi Duvvuru as a senior advisor on governance and regulatory compliance.

This occurs at a time when the Reserve Bank of India is closely monitoring the nation’s fintech platforms.

In the meantime, the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) granted Bengaluru-based Neobank Fi an NBFC licence in April.

Without providing the specific financial information, Ahluwalia also accepted to the article that the company is preparing to launch a new fundraising campaign in the upcoming two to three quarters, mainly to help with the NBFC’s operationalization.

The Mumbai-based Jai Kisan has raised $85.4 million as of the most recent fundraising in 2022 (about INR 717 Cr).