Click on Play to listen to Pallavi Shrivastava of PROGCAP on MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast
In this, the 46th episode of our award-winning podcast series MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, based on conversations with MVPs (Most Valued Players / Professionals) across important sectors of the Industry, I bring you a conversation with PALLAVI SHRIVASTAVA, Co-Founder & Director of the soonicorn (soon to be unicorn) PROGCAP, one of the largest providers of last-mile financing solutions in India. Pallavi has been listed amongst the top 50 social innovators globally, and is a winner of the Iconic Woman leadership award.
Before she started Progcap, Pallavi worked with the World Bank and IFC (International Finance Corporation) where she led IFC’s last-mile focused investments in South Asia and their scale-up in other emerging markets in Asia and Africa.
Progcap, which Pallavi founded along with Himanshu Chandra, is a Sequoia and Tiger Global-backed fintech startup. Pallavi’s vision is for Progcap to revolutionize the way financial access is delivered to underserved segments of the Indian retail economy. Pallavi wants to position the brand as India’s leading full-stack digital bank for retailers that is revolutionizing the path of financial access and empower the millions of small and medium enterprises to progress without any financial obstacles.
In the simplest of terms – through its Last Mile Retailer Finance Facility, Progcap provides the under banked, semi-urban and rural retailers in India – access to flexible, collateral-free working capital, thereby acting as a catalyst to the growth of their businesses.
In this episode of MVP – The Master’s Voice Podcast, Pallavi shares how the Sequoia- and Tiger Global-backed fintech startup is revolutionizing the way financial access is delivered to under-served segments of the Indian retail economy.
She speaks of the state of the industry, the vision and plans for Progcap, what makes its services and offerings stand out and the impact it has been making for retailers. She also shares what it was in her own professional journey that sparked the idea of starting a platform like Progcap.
Pallavi also speaks of the longer-term vision and goals for the category-defining Progcap. She also speaks of how the BFSI sector has evolved in India, her outlook on the future of India’s fintech sector, and more.
Progcap raised $30 million in primary equity capital as part of its Series C investment round in October 2021 led by its already existing investor, Tiger Global Management and new investor Creation Investments, and has been labeled one of India’s next soonicorns (soon-to-be-unicorn) amongst noteworthy startups in a list published by PGA labs.
