The Askme Group will help arrange Rs 1,000 crore of loans for 10,000 online and offline small and medium enterprises that are listed on its platforms and directories by the end of financial year 2017.

The finance arm of the group, Askme-Fin, has tied up with non-bank finance companies, banks and online lending partners, including Mahindra Finance, Bajaj Finserv, Capital Float, Religare, SMEBank.in, Mandii.com and ICICI Bank, for this. It plans to add 30 more lending partners by the end of April.

The initiative is aimed at offering working capital loans to small and medium enterprises, including short-term funds, overdraft, loans against receivables and bill discounting facility.

The company is also working on creating a credit algorithm for SMEs based on their data available with Askme.

This will help the lending partners in processing loan applications fast with minimum amount of documentation.

“We understand that (lack of) easy and hassle-free finance is one of the key roadblocks to the growth of the SMEs in India and we believe that Askme, with its digital focus and its strong access to offline SMEs, can help them,” Askme-Fin Chief Executive Pawan Lohia said.

“We are committed to helping the SME owners get the funds they need in a hassle-free manner. Irrespective of the size of these SMEs, they will be given loans with minimum paperwork.”

The company has close to 15 million SMEs registered on its offline and online platforms, such as Askme, Askme Bazaar and Askme Grocery.

While most e-commerce sites are extending credit facilities to sellers listed on their platforms, the Askme Group is offering it to offline enterprises as well.

Source: The Economic Times