Neogrowth raises USD 10 million debt from Microvest Capital

Small business-focused fintech Neogrowth has secured USD 10 million debt capital from US-based impact investor Microvest Capital Management.

Last month the company had raised Rs 300 crore from a clutch of investors in debt and equity, led by a Rs 160-crore equity capital by Dutch lender FMO. The investment will help Neogrowth extend financing to small businesses while helping it get required growth capital, said the company backed by Omidyar Network, Lightrock, Khosla Impact, Accion Frontier Inclusion Fund Quona Capital, IIFL Seed Ventures Fund, WestBridge Capital, and Leapfrog Investments.

Also read: Z3partners raises Rs 550 cr for tech investments

Microvest is an impact investor with a 19-year history of investing in microfinance institutions and small and medium enterprises. As an asset manager it specialises in allocating private debt capital to responsible microfinance and SME focused lenders. Since its founding in 2003, Microvest has disbursed over USD 1 billion to over 200 financial institutions in 60 emerging and frontier countries. The latest funding from Microvest “will allow us to continue making a positive impact on MSMEs” and will be used to help accelerate their growth and integrate them into the mainstream financing ecosystem, Neogrowth managing director Arun Nayyar said.

“Through this loan, we are leveraging both of our organisations’ synergies to achieve meaningful scale and contribute to the sustainable development goals,” Microvest chief executive Joshua Moraczewski said. Neogrowth, founded by Dhruv Khaitan and Piyush Khaitan, has a decade of experience in SME lending and has served over 1,50,000 customers, disbursing over USD 1 billion in loans across 25 locations. Neogrowth offers loans to first-time entrepreneurs, women business owners, and underserved small businesses across 70 MSME segments.