Operating under the brand name of “Utkarsh”, Shre Pathrakali Finance has begun its operations in September 2009 in Varanasi district, Uttar Pradesh – one of the most underserved regions for microcredit.
Starting from UP, the company aims to become a significant player serving customers across Northern and Central India over the next 5 years.
Utkarsh is led by Mr. Govind Singh, former business head for Micro-banking at ICICI Bank with over 20 years of experience spanning Micro-Banking, Rural & Agriculture finance, Retail & Corporate Banking and Retail Infrastructure amongst others.
Commenting on the investment, he said: “It is great to have Aavishkaar Goodwell as a partner for not only providing timely seed capital support but also their contribution in shaping Utkarsh by involving themselves in strategic planning.”
Vineet Rai, Managing Partner, Aavishkaar Goodwell, also representing Aavishkaar Goodwell on Utkarsh’s board, added: “Aavishkaar Goodwell is proud to partner with Utkarsh on account of its experienced management team, focus on the under-served Northern belt of country and association with IntelleCash.
“This partnership marks our 3rd investment in a greenfield MFI operation subsequent to Equitas and Suryoday Microfinance and our 2nd investment in an IntelleCash partner”.
The capital infusion will be enable Utkarsh to make early stage operational investments and to fulfil capital adequacy requirements.
FinSMEs
14/01/2010