by Editor | Oct 28, 2022 | Business, SMEs
Kinara Capital, that offers offers unsecured business loans for MSMEs, on Friday said it has raised Rs 200 crore led by British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor.
New Delhi, Oct 28,2022: Kinara Capital, that offers offers unsecured business loans for MSMEs, on Friday said it has raised Rs 200 crore led by British International Investment (BII), the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor.
Existing equity investors Nuveen and the ASN Microkredietfonds advised by Triple Jump also participated in the funding round.
With this funding, Kinara Capital aims to grow 5 times by 2025 and reach an asset under management (AUM) of Rs 6,000 crore.
“The combined expertise and capital infusion from BII, Nuveen and Triple Jump, will expand Kinara Capital’s offerings to meet the rising demand of the MSME sector in India. With this support, we, at Kinara Capital, are further motivated to deliver on our mission of financial inclusion,” said Hardika Shah, Founder and CEO, Kinara Capital.
More than 300 MSME sub-sectors across manufacturing, trading and services sectors can digitally avail ‘myKinara’ collateral-free business loans in the range of Rs 1-30 lakh.
Kinara Capital plans to reach over 2,00,000 MSMEs across more than 100 cities in the next three years.
The social impact of this growth is expected to support over 1 million jobs in local economies and generate over Rs 3,000 crore in incremental income for small business entrepreneurs, said the company.
“Women-led fintech company Kinara champions female empowerment and provides easier access to capital for small entrepreneurs across India. The British Government is proud to support the company through BII’s investment,” said Alex Ellis, British High Commissioner to India.
Kinara Capital’s other main equity investors include Gaja Capital, GAWA Capital, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (MSDF), and Patamar Capital.
“We are happy to participate in this round of investment for Kinara Capital who we consider to be at the forefront of driving financial inclusion with its digital processes combined with a personalised approach,” said Rekha Unnithan, Managing Director and Co-Head of Private Impact Investing, Nuveen.
by Editor | Oct 19, 2022 | Business, SMEs
The Centre has notified that all registered micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would be allowed to avail all non-tax benefits for three years instead of one year, even after an upward graduation in their category and consequent reclassification.
New Delhi, Oct 19,2022: The Centre has notified that all registered micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) would be allowed to avail all non-tax benefits for three years instead of one year, even after an upward graduation in their category and consequent reclassification.
This notification has been issued by the Ministry of MSME.
Non-tax benefits include benefits of various schemes of the government like public procurement policy and delayed payments among others.
In case of an upward change in terms of investment in plant and machinery or equipment or turnover or both and consequent re-classification, an enterprise shall continue to avail of all non-tax benefits of the category it was in before the re-classification, for a period of three years from the date of such upward change, the notification said.
This decision was taken after due deliberations with MSME stakeholders, official sources said.
The government had recently reclassified MSMEs into manufacturing and services sectors.
These were further classified into micro, small and medium enterprises based on investment in plant and machinery for manufacturing and investment into equipment in respect of services sector.
by Editor | Oct 7, 2022 | Business, SMEs
Almost 35 per cent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India are spending over 10 per cent of their revenue on technology (in comparison to global counterparts) and 26 per cent of SMBs are early adopters of new technologies, a Microsoft report said on Friday.
New Delhi, Oct 7,2022: Almost 35 per cent of small and medium businesses (SMBs) in India are spending over 10 per cent of their revenue on technology (in comparison to global counterparts) and 26 per cent of SMBs are early adopters of new technologies, a Microsoft report said on Friday.
At least 27 per cent of SMBs are all or mostly cloud-based, a percentage that is expected to be global average in two-three years, according to the Microsoft’s ‘SMB Voice and Attitudes to Technology Study 2022’ prepared by Analysys Mason.
SMBs are contributing approximately 30 per cent to India’s GDP and providing employment to over 114 million people in the country.
“It is evident that linking technology investments and adoption with business strategies, as well as close collaboration with partners are crucial to deliver success for SMBs,” said Samik Roy, Executive Director, Corporate Medium, and Small Business, Microsoft India.
Organisations, big or small, that are rooted in technology and committed to harnessing its full potential, will be able to stay ahead of the curve by becoming more agile, resilient, future-ready businesses,” he added.
According to the report, SMBs in India look to technology to help them to grow their customer base (39 per cent) and improve customer retention (38 per cent).
SMBs in middle-income markets (27 per cent) are more concerned about cloud migration than their counterparts in high income markets (22 per cent).
“SMBs in India are the most likely to view competition intensity as a major obstacle (35 per cent),” the findings showed.
At least 25 per cent of SMBs surveyed in India prefer working with application developers/independent software vendor (ISVs).
SMBs in India (45 per cent) are most likely to want to improve environmental sustainability in comparison to SMBs across the markets, the report mentioned.
by Editor | Sep 20, 2022 | Business, SMEs
Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday urged upon the manufacturing sector, especially the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), to ensure quality in their products.
New Delhi, Sep 20,2022: Commerce Minister Piyush Goyal on Tuesday urged upon the manufacturing sector, especially the micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs), to ensure quality in their products.
Addressing the FICCI LEADS summit, he said that though India is a market leader in giving top quality products in various segments like auto, FMCG, hospitality and many others, it needs to enhance quality of products coming out of the FMCG sector.
“We need to come out of that export quality product mentality. Every product should have world class production quality,” Goyal said, adding that if quality will not be good, then that industry will be out of the market.
He highlighted the fact that after quality control order was implemented in the toy sector, Indian toy industry has seen both domestic as well as international growth.
The minister sought industry’s feedback on its single window clearance system, asking them to come out with suggestions if any improvements are required in the process.
He asked the industry to help achieve the government’s $2 trillion goods and services target by 2030.
by Editor | Sep 10, 2022 | Business, SMEs
India’s MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) could contribute a lot in the country’s GDP and overall growth, experts said on Friday.
Kolkata, Sep 10,2022: India’s MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises) could contribute a lot in the country’s GDP and overall growth, experts said on Friday.
Addressing a conclave on “Fin-Tech and Credit Expo 2022 – Connecting Finance to Business”, Riddhi Gupta, Head of Strategy and Alliances, Invoicemart, said that MSMEs have a significant role at the centre of the vibrant Indian economic landscape.
“There is a lot of opportunity to ensure that MSMEs grow into an even more powerful engine. Contribution of MSMEs to GDP is still lower than that in countries like the US or China,” she said.
Aditya Kumar Sinha, Director C-DAC, Patna said that the digital transformation is a state of mind and every individual and every business is challenged in new ways.
“We need to rethink product and service engagement models by leveraging AI for customers,” he said.
The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCCI), in association with the LIC and HSBC, brought major fintechs and financial institutions to Kolkata for connecting MSMEs and businesses for solving their working capital hurdles.
The conclave aimed to bring the Indian fintech ecosystem and MSMEs and SMEs under one roof to raise awareness on technological innovation while accessing financial services. The other speakers at the event were Arpan Nangia, Country Head of Sales, Commercial Banking, HSBC, and Anirban Saha, Senior Divisional Manager, LIC.
by Editor | Aug 24, 2022 | Business, SMEs
Nearly 80 per cent of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) expect an increase in their domestic orderbook in the third quarter of calendar year, sequential improvement of five percentage points from the second quarter.
New Delhi, Aug 24, 2022: Nearly 80 per cent of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) expect an increase in their domestic orderbook in the third quarter of calendar year, sequential improvement of five percentage points from the second quarter.
As per the latest Industry survey by Assocham-Dun & Bradstreet, riding on improved confidence, small businesses participating in the survey intend to raise their capacity utilisation to 60 per ent in Q3 of calendar year of 2022, up from 55 per ent in Q2 2022.
Optimism with regard to fresh investment remained more or less intact with 75 per ent of SME anticipating an increase in their fixed capital investment. It was marginally lower than the 77 per ent recorded in Q2, but remained robust, said the survey report.
While the RBI has been tightening the monetary policy compelled by inflation, SMEs do not find any concern with regard to availability of credit. “Good thing is that the latest RBI credit policy statement gave an assurance that enough liquidity would remain in the system,” ASSOCHAM Secretary General Deepak Sood said. He expressed hope that the banks would continue to meet the working capital requirements of the SMEs ahead of the ensuing festive season.
Sood said it is up to the large companies both in the private and public sector to ensure that their SME vendors are paid well in time so that the payment and receipts cycle remains smooth and seamless.
“This is critical for meeting the working capital requirements of the SMEs well in time, more so when the festive season holds promise for faster recovery and particularly for the SMEs, both in manufacturing and services,” said Sood. Besides, timely payment of government dues and tax refunds would also be great help to the SMEs.
According to the survey, 79 per cent of the respondents anticipated that access to credit will be normal in Q3, one percentage point higher than the trendline for the preceding quarter. This is despite an increase in the interest rates in the recent months and the continuation of the same in the immediate future.
