CredRight raises $9.7m in equity & debt financing to expand credit access for MSMEs

By Gloria Mathias

CredRight, a data-driven tech-enabled NBFC focused on serving nano enterprises has announced that it has raised funding of INR 78 crore (9.7 million USD) through a combination of equity and debt capital.

The equity capital funding was led by the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation with participation from YourNest, Spearhead Capital, 9Unicorns and AccionVenture Lab. The debt capital funding was provided by Blacksoil, Caspian Debt, RevX Capital, and Westen Capital.

CredRight, which focuses on financial inclusion by providing institutional debt capital to MSMEs in Tier 3 and 4 towns, will utilise this additional capital to expand further into new locations, strengthen its technology stack and work towards positively impacting the lives of small business owners by helping them access formal finance.

Neeraj Bansal, Co-founder of CredRight, said, “MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy and access to capital is the fuel that fires them. We have served more than 5,000 nano enterprises, and this fundraiser will help us expand our reach exponentially. Our phygital model, unique underwriting ability & deep understanding of nano enterprises helps us reach remote areas and provide meaningful loans whilst ensuring profitability. We are delighted to have successfully executed this fund-raise in a challenging environment and welcome the support of, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and, of our existing shareholders.”

CredRight is helping bridge the credit gap for millions of small and medium-sized enterprises that do not have access to institutional debt as commercial banks and traditional institutional lenders find it prohibitive to distribute cost-efficiently in remote locations.

“We are delighted to partner with the CredRight team in serving the acute financing requirements of over 63 million MSME businesses in India,” said Geeta Goel, country director, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “The financing gap is wider still for nano entrepreneurs, businesses with an annual turnover between INR 1 and 10 million. These growing businesses account for approximately 20% of the MSME segment yet over 90% of them lack access to formal financing from traditional lenders. These entrepreneurs are the future of India, and Credright is creating opportunity for them, their families, and their communities across the country.”