CxO of the Week: Anuj Pandey, COO, U GRO Capital

CxO of the Week: This week, CIOL is in conversation with Anuj Pandey at U GRO Capital. In a few words, he has spoken volumes about the credit lending industry and the digitization that drives it. The pandemic has affected all kinds of businesses and thus, he talks about what they should do. He also threw light on the current government schemes.

Here's an excerpt from the conversation.

1. What as per you are the two important things that small businesses should be looking at today?

These are very tough times for small businesses with uncertainty all around. Working capital cycles have got elongated, migrant labour issues have not yet stabilized, and demand is getting postponed. Small Businesses need to focus on Resilience, exercise financial prudence and engage much more with their end customers.

2. What will be the post-covid scenario for businesses under cash-deficit?

Thankfully, we are well capitalised & have enough debt to continue lending in this scenario. However, if I were to think on behalf of cash deficit companies, I would broadly look at the following:

1. Conserving capital

2. Trying to keep repayment track record clear.

3. Deeper connect with teams and explore new opportunities and avenues for cost optimization.

3. How are you looking to stay ahead in this competitive landscape where the Fintech platforms are emerging rapidly?

Our focus has always been to provide meaningful solutions to customers. We have used technology and data-driven decision making to good effect in achieving the same. Unlike us, there are hardly any other fintech platforms today catering to MSMEs exclusively. Looking ahead, we feel this space will attract a lot of innovative platforms in the future and customer experiences will keep getting better.

4. Tell us something about you as a leader and an industry player. What should industry leaders do?

A leader should be passionate about his cause and keep questioning the status quo. We have been doing the same in the MSME lending space. We were first to demonstrate a fully automated in principle loan decision within one hour for MSMEs on our Gro+ app. We developed an award-winning proprietary scorecard Gro Score customized for the sectors we operate in based on the commercial bureau. We keep pushing ourselves to give better solutions to our customers.

5. What is your vision for U GRO Capital?

Our vision is to “Solve the Unsolved”. We want to evolve to a scientific templated approach to lending which is scalable, sustainable and helps in reducing the huge credit gap for MSMEs in the country through smart use of knowledge and technology.

6. So, what is your opinion on driving the digital vehicle to success?

Key is to drive the customer experience. Everything starts from there. Adoption and adaptation are important both at the customer as well as employee level, it usually takes longer than expected. One must plan and invest in the same. At the backend, Digital Architecture and Infrastructure also needs to be very robust.

7. What is your opinion of the Government’s economic package?

Recent government’s economic packages to both lenders & MSMEs have been a lot of help. We are seeing a lot of traction on the ECLGS scheme. We think more support is required for NBFCs which are focused on MSMEs. The Government should also look at measures to increase spends as supply-side constraints remain.

8. What is your take on “Vocal For local”?

“Vocal for local” is an excellent initiative. Because, to be completely self-reliant, we need to rejig out local infrastructure and ecosystem. MSMEs will play a major role in the same and we need to support them in every way we possibly can.

Read here about the previous CxO of the Week.