Flipkart disburses over Rs 125 crore to sellers in loan program

E-commerce firm, Flipkart, on Thursday announced that in just a year since the launch of its 'Flipkart Growth Capital' program, it has successfully disbursed loans amounting to over Rs 125 crore to more than 800 sellers on its platform.

Flipkart had partnered with eight financial institutions including State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Yes Bank, L&T Finance, India Infoline, Aditya Birla finance, Bajaj Fin Serve, Tata Capital and LendingKart for the initiative to offer collateral-free loans with interest rates starting at 11.40% to its sellers.

Sellers from the Mobile, Electronics, Fashion and Fashion accessories are the few categories that witnessed the highest adoption for the program, the company said in its release.

The program was launched in July 2015 with the aim of creating a robust platform for sellers to compare and access capital seamlessly. It received over 3,000 applications in the initial months of the launch, said the firm.

So far, Flipkart has furbished over 800 loans, with 80% of the loans were availed through the collateral free format.
Moreover, 95% of the total loans disbursed were overdraft working capital loans that provide ideal repayment flexibility to sellers.

Speaking on the success of the program, Anil Goteti, Head-Marketplace, Flipkart, said, “Availability of finance is one of the major barriers for the growth of small businesses in both online and offline space.

Flipkart’s Growth Capital Program addresses that issue and facilitates our sellers by helping them connect with trusted lenders in the industry.

Considering the success of the program and increasing demand for the initiative, we are estimating this to hit the Rs 200 crores mark by the end of this festive season. We are also planning to launch promotional offers with our lenders for the festive season in the following two months.”

Flipkart Growth Capital Program has seen major acceptance in North India with close to 60% of the applications coming from the region. Delhi-NCR alone forms 35% of the volume of the applications along with other metro cities as major contributors.