Jai Kisan Secures NBFC Licence After Picking Up Stake In Kushal Finnovation

Rural fintech startup Jai Kisan has reportedly obtained a non-banking finance company (NBFC) licence after it bought a majority stake in supply chain financing company Kushal Finnovation Capital.

As per ET’s report, with this new NBFC licence, Jai Kisan can now offer tailored financial products such as loans from its own portfolio. The company will also be able to enter into co-lending partnerships with financial institutions, including public sector banks in India.

It is pertinent to note that Jai Kisan’s cofounder and chief executive Arjun Ahluwalia is a non-executive director of Kushal Finnovation Capital.

Until now, Jai Kisan was able to cater services in partnership with banks in agreement and NBFCs through its portal, but the new licence enables the company to directly create and deliver tailored financial solutions to farmers and rural businesses, the report said, citing Ahluwalia.

Founded in 2020 by Ahluwalia and Adriel Maniego, Jai Kisan is a rural India-focussed neo bank that offers credit solutions in online and offline rural commerce environments. It aims to offer full-stack financial services to individuals and businesses in rural areas of the country.

In April 2020, Jai Kisan launched a digital lender for rural businesses called Bharat Khata. Under its BNPL credit solution, the startup is said to have added 400% new customers into its base in the initial three months.

“The NBFC licence allows us to cater to our farmer and rural business customers with credit products they want, how they want them, when they want them and where they want them – which is what they deserve,” the report quoted Ahluwalia as saying by the publication.

This comes at a time when the Reserve Bank of India has heightened its scrutiny in regulating fintech platforms in the country.

Meanwhile, Bengaluru-based neobank Fi secured its NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), in April.

Ahluwalia also confirmed to the report that the company is planning a new fundraise in the next two to three quarters, primarily to support the operationalisation of the NBFC, without disclosing the financial details.

As of the last fundraising in 2022, the Mumbai-based Jai Kisan has secured $85.4 Mn (nearly INR 717 Cr).

Note: We at Inc42 take our ethics very seriously. More information about it can be found here.