MSME-focused fintech Progcap has enabled more than Rs 10,000 crore of credit to women entrepreneurs through its ProgShakti initiative, which provides collateral-free loans of up to Rs 10 lakh to women-led businesses.
Launched in March last year, the programme aims to improve access to institutional finance for women running small and medium enterprises by offering unsecured working capital loans without the need for collateral.
“Till date, we have enabled over Rs 10,000 crore of credit to women entrepreneurs through the ProgShakti initiative,” said Pallavi Shrivastava, Co-founder, Progcap.
According to the company, women borrowers now account for 17 per cent of Progcap’s overall lending portfolio, growing at about 40 per cent year-on-year. Nearly 90 per cent of these entrepreneurs are based in Tier-2 and Tier-3 markets, highlighting the initiative’s outreach beyond major urban centres.
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Shrivastava said women entrepreneurs often face structural barriers when seeking formal credit.
“One of the biggest challenges for women entrepreneurs has been the traditional requirement of collateral and a male co-applicant in lending systems. Through ProgShakti, we sought to remove these structural barriers by offering unsecured working capital loans that women entrepreneurs can access independently,” she added.
Industry data also underlines the financing gap faced by women-led businesses. According to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), women entrepreneurs face a 35 per cent credit gap, compared with 20 per cent for men, reflecting persistent challenges in accessing institutional lending.
Progcap said its initiative is designed to address this gap by enabling easier access to credit and supporting the growth of women-led MSMEs across the country.
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