British International Investment

Indifi Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

South AsiaFinancial services

Indifi Technologies (Indifi) is a digital lender providing loans to micro and small businesses in India.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

In 2019 we led the funding round for Indifi Technologies (Indifi), a digital lender providing loans to micro and small businesses in India. We invested $15 million in a $21 million fundraise in 2019 and have made follow-on investments in subsequent years.

Impact information

Applies to investments made from 2019 onwards. The tabs in this section define what we expect to achieve through the investment, assessing the potential impact of the investment against six dimensions of impact. You can find more details on our methodology of assessing impact here.

What?

Impact

Improved economic opportunities by increased access to formal SME finance for small businesses in India, some of which have never had access to credit before, allowing them to sustainably participate in the economy and scale their business (SDG 8.10)

How?

How?

Through improved access to finance, SMEs will be able to manage their liquidity and grow. In India only 5 per cent of SMEs have access to formal credit. Evidence shows that liquidity management is critical to investment and growth, and smaller businesses benefit from flexible terms and smaller amounts.

Who?

Stakeholder Geography Characteristics
Employees/informal workers and business owners

India

SMEs focus on sectors including food and retail/e-commerce. They are small, self-owned businesses that generally borrow between $4,000-7,000 at a time. These enterprises can have limited data on their credit risk and therefore are usually more difficult to serve.

How much?

Scale Depth/Duration

Over the next five years, Indifi will increase the proportion of its assets under management in working capital loans, which will allow SMEs to access shorter, more flexible loans.

Depth is expected to continue to be deep for the new to formal credit customers. The impact of access to financial services will continue beyond the life of our investment.

Contribution/additionality

Contribution/additionality
  • Financial additionality: Capital is unavailable on the same terms from other investors.

Grid score

Grid Score

To help us direct our investments, we previously used a tool called the Development Impact Grid. It scored investments out of four, based on two factors: the difficulty of investing in a country and the propensity of the sector to generate employment. This tool was used for investments until the end of 2021. Since 2022 it has been replaced by the Impact Score.

2.17

Risk

External Risk
  • The original impact targets from our first investment may not be achieved due to derailed growth trajectory caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. Both original and updated cases will continue to be monitored in portfolio management. There are no current mitigants, and this risk will have to be tolerated.

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.

  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

Indifi has satisfactorily completed the agreed ESAP and continues to perform satisfactorily on E&S workstream. Indifi proactively reports on POSH incidents, and we have engaged with their HR team to apprise on the GBVH guidance note and sought for improvements to its existing POSH processes.

Environmental and social risk

Medium-Low

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to [email protected] or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at [email protected]

  • Key facts

    First published

    When the investment was first published on the website database.

    :
    October 2023
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.

    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.

    :
    D3870
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).

    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.

    :
    South Asia
    Country

    The countries where the investment delivers impact. Where impact is delivered in multiple countries, this is indicated.

    :
    India
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Financial services

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.

    Investment type :
    Equity
    Start date :
    May 2023
    Amount :
    $4.93m
    Currency of investment :
    INR
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.

    :
    India

Related investments made by BII into this company:

Investment name Commitment Region Sector Start date Status
Investment 01 $14.51m South Asia Financial services July 2019 Active
Investment 02 $3.34m South AsiaSouth Asia Financial services August 2021 Active

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