Saarathi Finance

About Saarathi Finance

Saarathi Finance and Credit Private Limited is a non-banking financial company (NBFC) targeting India's micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs). Founded in 2024 by Vivek Bansal and Sunil Daga, the Mumbai-based company aims to address the significant credit gap for businesses in underserved semi-urban and rural areas. The founders' backgrounds are rooted in finance; Bansal, the CEO, has over two decades of experience at firms like InCred, Yes Bank, and Standard Chartered, while Co-founder Sunil Daga brings extensive banking experience from Kotak Mahindra Bank. This venture was inspired by Bansal's firsthand observations of financial struggles in his small hometown and Daga's upbringing in an entrepreneurial family, fueling their shared mission to make credit more accessible.

The company operates on a model that combines technology-driven processes with personalized customer engagement through relationship managers. It generates revenue from the spread between the interest rates on funds borrowed from banks and other financial institutions and the rates charged on the loans it provides. Saarathi Finance has successfully secured a newly issued NBFC license and raised ₹475 crore in its inaugural Series A funding round in May 2025, achieving a valuation of over ₹900 crore. The round was led by investors including TVS Capital Funds, Lok Capital, and Evolvence Equity Partners, with a significant capital infusion from the founders themselves.

Saarathi's primary offerings are secured and unsecured loans tailored to the needs of small business owners and self-employed individuals. The company emphasizes a flexible evaluation of both formal and informal income sources, coupled with quick and transparent loan processing, to support entrepreneurs who have traditionally been overlooked by formal financial institutions. With the fresh capital, Saarathi Finance plans to expand its operations across several states, including Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Rajasthan, and Uttar Pradesh, to build a robust network for serving its target clientele.