Lendingkart co-founder quits; may start own venture

Mukul Sachan, co-founder and chief operating officer (COO) of digital lending startup Lendingkart Technologies, has stepped down from his position, Harshvardhan Lunia, co-founder of the startup, told TechCircle.

“He has contributed immensely to the company’s growth and helped us expand our reach to the remotest parts of our country. The board and I thank him for the wonderful time and fully support his decision. At Lendingkart, we always strive to innovate and adapt, and will be on the lookout to grow our team, increase the management bandwidth of the group and hire seasoned talent in the coming months,” said Lunia.

Sachan had co-founded the company with Lunia in April 2014.

Sachan will continue to be an active mentor and consultant for the group, Lumia added.

Sachan has reached out to prospective investors to start a new venture, The Economic Times reported.

According to media reports, Sachan has been on sabbatical for the last six months and wants to pursue interests outside Lendingkart.

Sachan is an IIT Varanasi and IIM Bangalore alumnus. He has worked with the Indian Space Research Organisation as a scientist and was also associated with Edelweiss and Futures First.

Lendingkart operates two entities — Lendingkart Technologies and Lendingkart Finance. 

Lendingkart Technologies handles technology and digital marketing and has developed tools based on Big Data analytics that help lenders evaluate borrowers' creditworthiness. 

Lendingkart Finance is the company’s non-banking finance company (NBFC) arm that provides collateral-free working capital loans ranging from Rs 50,000 to Rs 1 crore to small businesses.

Lendingkart Finance has evaluated nearly half a million applications, disbursing over 60,000 loans to more than 55,000 MSMEs spread across 1,300 cities so far, according to the company.

Last month, the company raised $30 million in a funding round led by existing investors including Fullerton Financial Holdings, Bertelsmann India Investments and India Quotient.