Jai Kisan Gets NBFC License and Increases Financing Options

The non-banking finance company (NBFC) license was obtained by the fintech startup Jai Kisan, which focuses on rural areas, after it acquired the majority of Kushal Finnovation Capital, an NBFC that specializes in supply chain financing. In addition to being the CEO and co-founder of Jai Kisan, Arjun Ahluwalia is a non-executive director of Kushal Finnovation Capital.

With this new NBFC license, Jai Kisan will be able to offer customized financial products, including loans from its own portfolio. The company can now enter co-lending partnerships with financial institutions, including public sector banks in India.

Prior to this, the only financial products that Jai Kisan offered were those that were offered through its platform by its partner banks and NBFCs. With this new license, Jai Kisan can now directly design and provide farmers and rural businesses with customized finance solutions.

In his analysis of the situation, Ahluwalia emphasized the revolutionary impact of good government reforms as well as the accessibility of inexpensive data and cellphones in rural India. With the NBFC license, Jai Kisan will be able to provide more specialized and easily accessible credit solutions to farmers and rural enterprises.

Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego established Jai Kisan in 2017, a technology-driven financial services platform that caters to farmers, people, and rural enterprises. The company has created a digital ecosystem that links corporate entities, financial institutions (banks and NBFCs), and rural intermediaries (distributors, retailers, and suppliers) in order to enable supply chain finance and buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) alternatives for agricultural equipment and supplies.

Jai Kisan has worked with more than 350 corporates since its founding, helped over 800,000 farmers, supported over 100,000 rural enterprises, and facilitated the disbursement of more than Rs 6,000 crore.

Senior bankers including former group president and chief risk officer of Kotak Mahindra Bank Arvind Kathpalia and former president and chief compliance officer of Jana Small Finance Bank Ravi Duvvuru have joined the company’s advisory board as senior advisors on governance and regulatory compliance.

As part of the first tranche of its Series B round in 2022, Jai Kisan raised $50 million in debt and equity from new and existing investors Blume Ventures, Arkam Ventures, Mirae Asset, and Snow Leopard Ventures in addition to GMO Venture Partners, Yara Growth Ventures, and DG Daiwa Ventures.