India is fairly new when it comes to formalized supply chains, and it was not until GST was introduced that the sector saw any form of structure in the country. However, now that the second largest internet market is catching on, companies/small businesses need an extra boost financially, which has given rise to many innovative solutions, the prime example being behemoths like Paytm and Razorpay. Another very important part of trade is capital infusion, and to make sure that India’s underserved as well taken care of, fintech startup Progcap has raised $25Mn in Series B funding.
The round was led by Tiger Global and existing investor, Sequoia Capital India.
The company offers a way for Indians to gain access to customized financial solutions, helping them digitize their supply chains.
It offers credit facilities to those who do not have an official credit history, by evaluating a borrower’s credit worthiness in real time through its own algorithm. Then, it provides, easy, even last minute capital to these borrowers. It offers this aid collateral free, removing one of the biggest hurdle towards scale and economic opportunities for a small business. The terms of repayment are also flexible, aligning with the customer’s cash flow.
Not only that, it provides a host of other finance related services, like tracking transactions and making payments digitally.
Thanks to all of these offerings, Progcap has managed to reach 500+ towns, and has scaled to 300k retailers across 50 corporates, having disbursed over ₹1500 cr of loans on its uniquely designed product for India’s multi-tiered supply chains. By the end of 2023, it aims to impact over 5 million enterprises.
As for the proceeds raised in this round, Progcap wishes to deploy them to enhance its services and expand the brand’s presence across existing geographies. The firm will also use the capital to scale up the team, strengthen the technology differentiation and diversify into new product offerings to fortify its vision of building a full stack digital platform for last mile retailers.
Commenting on the fundraise, the founders Pallavi Shrivastava and Himanshu Chandra said, “We are excited to have Sequoia Capital India double down on Progcap and thrilled to have Tiger Global join us in our journey. The continued faith that our customers, partners and investors have put in us is a testament to our teams’ unrelenting efforts. We are committed to continue our efforts in building India’s largest digital banking platform for last mile retailers.”
