Caspian Debt Adds 9 New SMES to Its Portfolio

Hyderabad: Caspian Debt, a leading provider of debt funds to start-ups and social enterprises, has disbursed loans ranging from INR 50 lakh to INR 5 crore and expanded its portfolio, adding 9 new SMEs from sectors such as Food and Agriculture, Education and Skill Development, Clean Energy, Healthcare and General Impact sectors during April- October 2021.

Chakr Innovation, Payagri Innovations, Retas Enviro, Eggoz, Varcas Automobiles, Samosa Singh, Sevamob Ventures, Hesa Enterprises, and Process Nine Technologies were among the nine new companies added to the company’s SME portfolio. These funds will help the recipients manage their working capital cycles, procure raw materials and strengthen supply chains.

Caspian Debt is a multi-sector debt funding firm that provides tailored debt to professionally managed small and mid-market transformational firms. The company funds first-generation entrepreneurs with the ambition to grow the company in a responsible, transparent, and sustainable manner. Some of the SMEs who have received funds from Caspian Debt include:

Chakr Innovation is building metro cities into better places to leave and breathe cleaner air by manufacturing emissions controlling devices that are retrofitted to diesel gensets of 100 KVA or above, reducing PM 2.5 and PM 10 particles by 85 to 90%. Caspian Debt invested in Chakr because of the environmental impact that they are creating and has backed them with growth capital to fulfil their in-hand orders.

Varcas is providing an easy and affordable mobility solution through their electric 2W, which is available in tier 2 and tier 3 cities of north India. Caspian Debt has provided a working capital loan to Varcas to fulfil the working capital gap.

Process9 is a provider of real-time multi-language access for websites to their clients. This helps with easier and better information access over the internet in multiple regional languages across the country. As their contracts are with large-scale entities providing services to all segments of society, Caspian is supporting them by providing working capital support to enable the content delivery to the end-user.

Samosa Singh operates cloud kitchens intending to recreate and lead the Indian snacks category by making household nostalgic Indian snacks accessible to all differently and innovatively. Caspian Debt has provided a term loan to Samosa Singh to increase their footprint in existing and new cities.

HESA is another company that recently received funds from Caspian Debt. HESA connects Bharat Phygitally by enabling end to end access to the untapped rural markets as a one-stop solution provider. The core offering is a physical network of village-level entrepreneurs, called "Hesaathis", spread across villages connected digitally through Hesa’s tech platform. Caspian Debt has supported HESA to help them revolutionise the ecosystem of rural commerce with their unique solutions.

Sevamob is working closely to provide primary medical care to rural and semi-urban fraternities, supported by an asset-light delivery model and backed by the CSR of various large-scale MNCs. Caspian Debt has funded them to improve their working capital cycles as their receivables are from larger-scale MNCs and CSR foundations.

Other companies that received loans from Caspian Debt include RETAS, which is engaged in providing freshwater management solutions through their innovative and customised offerings, Eggoz, which is solving the problem of inefficiencies that exist in the poultry supply chain; Krishiyog, which bridges the demand and supply for all grades of fruits for B2B clients; and Balwaan Agri, which educates farmers and provides affordable and high-quality farm machinery and equipment that are typically used during the harvesting season.

Commenting on the announcement, Avishek Gupta, Head, Caspian Debt, said, "While most businesses are still recovering from the pandemic, we believe that there is enormous scope for growth in the SME sector. We continue to hold a long-term view and believe that MSMEs are the growth and development engines of the Indian economy. We have witnessed the stability and resilience of SMEs during the pandemic and other economic crises in the past, and we are sure that timely and effective capital infusion will further enhance the sector’s growth. Our investments in the SME sector reflect our strong belief in the contribution of these companies towards the SDGs. Caspian Debt’s portfolio companies contribute to 13 SDGs."

The pandemic-enforced lockdown in 2020 had a direct impact on the SME sector, which faced several challenges with logistics, supply chain disruptions, stalled projects in the execution stage, and delays in the collection of receivables. By the end of the fiscal year, 16 out of 54 SMEs in the Caspian Debt portfolio reported a positive median sales growth of 6%, demonstrating their recovery and resilience. Caspian Debt is enrolled as a member lending institution with the National Credit Guarantee Trust Company (NCGTC) to provide loans under the Emergency Credit Line Guarantee Scheme (ECLGS) of the Government of India to help their SME clients.