• Ujjivan Financial Services

  Participated · Equity · Nov 2008

  Ujjivan Financial Services was founded in 2005 to provide responsible access to formal credit for base-of-the-pyramid communities. It offers group-lending microfinance products historically targeted at women and has expanded into individual micro-entrepreneur loans for equipment, livestock and other needs. Ujjivan has helped more than two million unbanked and under-banked customers and operates 423 branches across 24 states, with major presence in Karnataka, West Bengal, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. The firm runs social development and financial-literacy programs (225 social programs reaching over 346,700 beneficiaries in 2014; 242,421 enrolled in financial literacy, with 82% graduation and 77,382 new bank accounts). Ujjivan was one of the first MFIs in India to receive SMART certification for client protection, and its founder Samit Ghosh is president of the Microfinance Institution Network (MFIN). As part of an equity financing round of INR 6,000m that includes secondary transactions, the company is raising capital to expand its geographic footprint and increase lending. Ujjivan Financial Services is a Bangalore-based microfinance institution focused on providing financial services to the urban and semi-urban poor. The company completed a fourth round of equity infusion, raising Rs 94 crore in an oversubscribed placement. The new capital will increase its paid-up capital and reserves to over Rs 108 crore, making Ujjivan the fourth highest capitalised microfinance institution in India. Proceeds are earmarked for major expansion plans over the next year and to meet enhanced capital adequacy norms set by the Reserve Bank of India. The transaction also included a mechanism to provide liquidity to individual investors, supporting the company’s effort to balance social mission with market-driven private equity. Grameen Capital India served as the exclusive equity advisor on the deal.

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