Optimo Mortgage, an MSME (Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises) lending-tech enterprise for rural India, on Wednesday, introduced that it raised $10 million in seed funding from enterprise capital corporations Blume Ventures and Omnivore, with further contribution from the corporate’s founder, Prashant Pitti.

With this funding, Optimo goals to revolutionise MSME lending in rural India by leveraging cutting-edge know-how and a phygital (bodily plus digital) distribution mannequin.

“Optimo lending operations commenced in November 2023, and we’re scaling swiftly but prudently. We intention to ascertain an asset-light firm by primarily leveraging co-lending agreements with banks and bigger NBFCs,” Pitti mentioned in an announcement.

The startup mentioned it’s constructing a co-lending platform for MSMEs with a singular underwriting methodology.
The novel method permits Optimo to realize deeper insights into the monetary well being of MSMEs, enabling knowledgeable lending selections and catalysing entrepreneurship and financial progress in rural communities.

“We imagine in Optimo’s mission to democratise entry to finance for MSMEs in rural India, particularly contemplating their important contribution of 29 per cent to GDP. To attain the formidable purpose of elevating this contribution from 4 to fifteen trillion over the subsequent 15-20 years,” mentioned Ashish Fafadia, Companion at Blume Ventures.

As well as, Reihem Roy, Companion at Omnivore, mentioned that Optimo’s revolutionary lending know-how mannequin holds the potential to make a considerable affect and foster enduring change in underserved communities.

“India faces a big credit score deficit, with solely 25 per cent of all MSMEs having accessed formal loans so far, leaving 53 million companies untapped and holding immense alternative,” he added.