Ujjivan Financial Services, one of India’s leading urban poor-focused microfinance institutions, has raised Rupees 127.9 Crores (USD 25.5 Million) in its fifth round of equity funding. Two new Foreign Institutional Investors FMO (Netherlands Development Finance Company) and WCP Mauritius Holdings III (Wolfensohn Capital Partners) and existing investors participated in this round.
Speaking on the funding, Mr. Samit Ghosh, managing director, Ujjivan said, “We thank our existing investors who continue to reiterate their commitment to us and welcome our two new investors. This round of equity funding will make Ujjivan one of the best capitalised MFIs in the country”. With this round of equity funding, the last being in 2009, Ujjivan’s capitalisation has more than doubled to Rs.2300 million. Kotak Investment Banking was the advisor and arranger of the transaction.
Mr. Sanjiv Kapur, managing director, Wolfensohn India Advisors Pvt. Ltd. said “This is the first investment for Wolfensohn in the Indian microfinance sector, endorsing our faith in the sector and in Ujjivan’s financial inclusion model”.
Mrs. Sudha Suresh, Ujjivan’s chief financial officer indicated that the additional capital will help increase the loan book from the current Rs.600 Crores to around Rs.1600 Crores given the Reserve Bank of India’s 15% capital adequacy requirement for NBFC-MFIs.
“We are very happy to work with Ujjivan, which is constantly searching for ways to better serve the urban poor. Their firm focus on their mission to alleviate poverty and strong business credentials make Ujjivan a very interesting partner for FMO” said Mr. Keesjan de Kruijf, senior investment officer, FMO.
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Ujjivan’s existing investors which participated in the fifth round of funding include Lok Capital, India Financial Inclusion Fund (Caspian Advisors), Sequoia Capital, Mauritius Unitus Corporation and Elevar Equity.
“India continues to be a preferred investment destination for FIIs and it is heartening to see that fundamentally strong organisations in the microfinance sector are a key focus”, added Mr. Mohit Bhatnagar, managing director, Sequoia Capital. It is the largest stakeholder in Ujjivan.
“When we look for large MFIs which are truly client centric, transparent, have good systems, great leadership, and are sincere in its social objectives, Ujjivan is the only MFI which comes to mind. Our investment thesis is built around making it the borrower of choice for the base of the pyramid, across the country”, said Venky Natarajan, managing partner, Lok Capital.
Ujjivan serves over a million clients in 20 states including 49 under-banked districts across the country and does not have a presence in Andhra Pradesh. Recently, Ujjivan received the Microfinance Organisation of the Year award and ranked No.1 in the Microfinance Industry as the Best Company to Work for in India.
