UGRO To Acquire Lending Tech Startup MyShubhLife In A Cash & Equity Deal

Listed non-banking finance company (NBFC) UGRO Capital on Thursday (May 2) said it will acquire Bengaluru-based lending tech startup MyShubhLife in an equity and cash deal.

In a statement, UGRO said its board approved the acquisition of MyShubhLife in a mix of equity (64%) and cash (36%) at an enterprise value of INR 45 Cr. 

MyShubhLife was last valued at INR 240 Cr during its Series B round in 2022 which saw participation from Gojo, Saama Capital., BEENEXT, among others.

Founded in 2016 by Monish Anand and Rahul Sekar, MyShubhLife offers embedded finance and credit solutions to small shopkeepers and distributors. Its parent entity Datasigns Technologies received an NBFC licence from the Reserve Bank of India in 2019. 

There was no clarity on whether the existing leadership will continue to lead MyShubhLife.

The deal will enable UGRO to leverage the lending tech startup’s tech stack and partnerships with ecosystem players to further bolster its offerings. 

In the statement, UGRO also said that MyShubhLife’s integration will enable it to onboard 2 Lakh new retailers in the next three years and increase its assets under management (AUM) to INR 1,500 Cr while achieving a profit after tax (PAT) of INR 100 Cr by 2027.

“The acquisition of MyShubhLife marks a significant milestone in our journey… MSL’s live embedded relationships with leading payment ecosystems and a very contemporary and functional technology architecture will add granularity and yields on our portfolio,” said UGRO Capital founder and managing director Shachindra Nath.

MyShubhLife cofounder and CEO Anand said, “The realm of lending is primarily a matter of scale, and in UGRO we have found a lender which not only has access to an extensive balance sheet but also has datatech as its core DNA. Our primary objective is to employ technology as a catalyst for offering contextual and innovative credit products to small-scale shopkeepers and distributors across the nation”.

Meanwhile, UGRO Capital also said that it received the approval of its board to raise equity capital of INR 1,332.66 Cr via compulsory convertible debentures (CCD) and warrants. 

The latest fundraise comes at a time when homegrown lending tech startups have been seeing rapid adoption on the back of rising internet and smartphone penetration. These platforms cater to both end customers as well as small businesses. 

On the back of this, the space has attracted healthy investor interest. Last month, lending tech startup RING (formerly Kissht) raised INR 100 cr in debt funding from Trifecta Capital. In March, EaseMyTrip cofounder Prashant Pitti-led MSME lending tech platform Optimo Loan also raised $10 Mn in seed funding in a round led by Blume and Omnivore.

In February, EV financing company Ascend Capital also bagged INR 50 Cr in its Series A funding round co-led by InfoEdge Ventures and Asha Ventures for expansion.

At the heart of this is the growing Indian lending tech space, which is projected to soar to a $1.3 Tn market opportunity by 2030. 

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