Lendingkart hires former Via.com executive as chief business officer

Lendingkart Group, which operates a fintech startup and a non-banking financial company, has appointed a former executive of travel firm Via.com as its chief business officer.

Lendingkart said in a statement that it has hired Paroma Chatterjee with the aim of expanding its geographical footprint and continuing to enable working capital loan assistance for the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector.

“Her leadership expertise and proven track record in leading businesses across industries will help Lendingkart Group achieve its next level of growth and expansion,” said Harshvardhan Lunia, co-founder and chief executive of Lendingkart Technologies, the technology and digital marketing arm of Lendingkart.

A graduate of Indian Institute of Management-Lucknow, Chatterjee has more than 15 years of experience in leading businesses across the financial services and consumer internet industries. 

At Via.com, she served as chief business officer and led the global business interests of the online-to-offline travel agency. 

Before that, she led businesses at organisations such as Flipkart, Bharti Airtel, and ICICI Bank, among others.

“I am looking forward to consolidating the existing lines of business for the company, as well as introducing new avenues to enable a more financially-abled environment for the huge MSME community to further flourish,” Chatterjee said.

The company has been strengthening its top deck through a combination of fresh hires and internal elevations. In August last year, it appointed Mukesh Singh, a former SirionLabs executive, as the group’s chief technology officer.

Also last year, the firm appointed Utsav Mehrotra, a former Axis Capital executive, as vice president of capital markets, and Abhishek Arora, a former executive at Dubai-based e-tailer Souq, as vice president of revenue and operations.

Lendingkart Group was founded in 2014 by Lunia and Mukul Sachan. It operates two entities — Lendingkart Technologies Pvt. Ltd and Lendingkart Finance (formerly Aadri Infin Ltd).

Lendingkart Technologies handles technology and digital marketing. It has developed tools based on big data analytics that help lenders evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness. The entity has raised equity financing from Bertelsmann India, Darrin Capital Management, Mayfield India, Saama Capital, India Quotient, and Anicut Capital.

Lendingkart Finance underwrites loans for small and medium enterprises from its own books. The entity provides entrepreneurs collateral-free working capital loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 10 lakh. The company has helped disburse 12,000 loans across more than 700 cities in India.

The group has thus far raised more than $170 million in equity and debt from a clutch of investors. In February, Lendingkart Technologies raised Rs 565 crore ($87 million) in a Series C round of funding led by Singapore’s Fullerton Financial Holdings Pte Ltd.