U GRO Capital partners with Wadhwani Foundation to help MSMEs thrive in the post Covid-19 era

by Suman Gupta

The main objectives of the collaboration are:

§  To address pressing business challenges, faced by U GRO MSMEs, due to the impact of the pandemic

§  To achieve the joint objective of stability, scale and growth for MSMEs

§  To provide access to business consulting and digital learning management as well as project management support to U GRO’s SMEs

U GRO Capital recently entered into a strategic partnership with The Wadhwani Foundation, a global non-profit organization, with a primary mission to accelerate the overall business growth and development of their customers (Indian MSMEs), thereby driving job creation. The partnership between the two organizations will mutually benefit the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises predominantly present in Education, Healthcare, Hospitality, Electrical Equipment, Chemical, FMCG /Food Processing, Auto Component, and Light Engineering sectors.

The partnership aims to help U GRO Capital’s client base survive the current COVID crisis and thrive in a post-pandemic era. Wadhwani Foundation will work with these MSMEs to identify, consult, co-create and execute a pragmatic and thought through growth plan. MSMEs can benefit from this partnership by addressing their strategic, operational and development needs as part of the ‘Sahayata Stability Program’.

The MSME Sector is the most important cog in the wheel of India’s ambitious target to be a US $ 5 Trillion economy by 2025. The nation’s 60 Million plus MSMEs contribute to about 30% of its GDP, while also providing employment to around 120 million people. COVID-19 has been hard hitting but especially so for the SMEs in India. The problems they face are extensive – from lack of access to capital, drop in revenue to supply chain disruptions and so on.

The Wadhwani Advantage Sahayata Stability Program aims to help SMEs navigate through this crisis towards survival and eventual success. The support will come in the form of business consulting, digital learning, management through its network of advisors and in-house transformation managers with deep experience across sectors and business functions. Wadhwani Foundation offers end to end Project Management support to each SME throughout their journey.

Commenting on the partnership, Mr. Shachindra Nath, Executive Chairman and Managing Director of U GRO Capital stated, “U GRO Capital was formed to solve the unsolved credit gap of India’s MSME sector. However, the challenges faced by business owners in the current macro environment are not restricted only to capital requirements. Micro, Small and Medium sized businesses need a lot more handholding across functions like Financial Management, Human Resource and Succession Planning, Operations, Pricing, Sales Solutioning, Digital Transformation and Customer Experience. At U GRO Capital, we pride ourselves in going beyond a typical transactional lender-customer relationship. Our customer philosophy is “only when you grow, do we grow’. To live up to this philosophy, we make all efforts to provide our customers with every potential opportunity to grow. The partnership with Wadhwani Foundation is an embodiment of that growth commitment to customers”

Mr. Samir Sathe, EVP, Wadhwani Advantage, India quoted “We are excited to partner with U GRO. As the name suggests, we have clear intent to help the MSMEs grow with our advice. We at Wadhwani Foundation as a part of the Advantage Program are focused on aiding the small businesses. This partnership will be mutually beneficial for both the organizations involved.”

About U GRO Capital Ltd.:U GRO Capital limited is a BSE listed, small business lending fintech platform. The Company is focused on addressing capital needs of small businesses operating in select eight sectors by providing customized loan solutions.

U GRO Capital’s mission is ‘Solve the Unsolved’ – Small Business Credit Need. U GRO Capital believes that the problem of small businesses can be solved by building deep expertise around core sectors of SMEs in India coupled with a data centric, technology-enabled approach.

The Company has raised ~INR 920 crore of capital from a diversified set of private equity funds like institutional investors and well-known family offices.

U GRO Capital has shortlisted the 8 sectors basis an 18-month process involving extensive study of macro and micro economic parameters carried out in conjunction with market experts like CRISIL. The eight sectors shortlisted are Healthcare, Education, Chemicals, Food Processing / FMCG, Hospitality, Electrical Equipment and Components, Auto Components, Light Engineering. The Company additionally lends to microenterprises, which behave as a monolith and act a pseudo ninth sector.

The Company strives to build a strong SME financing platform based on sectoral understanding supplemented by a fully integrated technology and analytics platform.

 About Wadhwani Foundation : Wadhwani Foundation was founded in 2000 by Dr. Romesh Wadhwani, with the primary mission of accelerating job creation in India and other emerging economies through large-scale initiatives in entrepreneurship, small business growth, innovation, and skilling. The Wadhwani Foundation operates in 20 countries, including India, South East Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines), East Africa (Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda), Southern Africa (South Africa, Botswana, Namibia), West Africa (Nigeria, Ghana), Egypt, and Latin America (Mexico, Brazil, Peru, Chile). The Wadhwani Foundation works in partnership with governments, foundations, corporations, and educational institutes.

The Foundation recently launched its “Sahayata Small Business Stability Program”, under which a commitment of INR 200 Crores has been made by the founder Mr Romesh Wadhwani to help and support MSMEs in India to get on a growth path.