Indifi Cofounder Siddharth Mahanot Steps Down After 9-Year Stint

Indifi’s cofounder Siddharth Mahanot has stepped down from his executive role at the lending tech company, ending his nine-year stint.

“After more than nine incredible years as a cofounder at Indifi, I have decided to step down from my executive responsibilities at the end of this month,” Mahanot announced in his LinkedIn post on Saturday (September 28).

He further said in his post that although “he is stepping away from day-to-day operations, but will continue to be involved as a shareholder and will maintain his board responsibilities.”

Following Mahanot’s departure, the company’s other cofounder Alok Mittal and chief executive Sangram Singh will continue to helm the company.

With over two decades of experience across credit management and risk assessment, he was the executive vice president at Indiabulls Housing Finance in 2014-15. Prior to that, he was the associate director and risk head – retail finance at Edelweiss Financial Services.

Indifi, cofounded by Mahanot, Mittal and Sudeep Sahi in 2015, aims to streamline loan process for SMBs by connecting them with multiple lenders. In June, it raised $35 Mn as a part of its Series E funding round, taking its total funding to over $120 Mn.

The startup claims to have hit its first profitability milestone in February 2022. 

It is pertinent to note that Sahi quit the company in 2017 and is currently the founder of a payroll management company, Skuad.

Indifi reported a net profit of INR 5.1 Cr in FY23 as compared to a loss of INR 32.8 Cr in FY22, its maiden profit for the full year. 

Its revenue from operations more than doubled to INR 198 Cr in March 2023 from INR 96 Cr, and Mittal is confident about maintaining this growth rate in FY24 as well.

Mahanot’s exit comes at a time when Indifi is looking to tap into the growing credit needs of MSMEs on the back of rising digitisation. 

Compared to global averages, the MSME sector in India suffers a formal credit gap penetration challenge of $530 Bn, according to a recent report by EY. 

On the broader lending front, Inc42’s report outlines that the lending tech market opportunity will reach $1.3 Tn by 2030.