Mumbai, March 8 Progcap, a fintech company focused on MSMEs, said on Sunday that its ProgShakti initiative has enabled over ₹10,000 crore in credit to women entrepreneurs since its launch in March last year, offering collateral-free loans of up to ₹10 lakh. The initiative aims to provide collateral-free financing of up to ₹10 lakh to women-led small and medium enterprises. "To date, we have enabled over ₹10,000 crore in credit to women entrepreneurs through the ProgShakti initiative," said Pallavi Shrivastava, Co-founder, Progcap. Women borrowers currently account for 17 per cent of Progcap's overall portfolio, growing at 40 per cent year-on-year, with almost 90 per cent of these entrepreneurs coming from Tier 2 and Tier 3 markets, Shrivastava said. "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. According to the Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), women entrepreneurs face a 35 per cent credit gap compared to 20 per cent for men, highlighting the challenges women-led businesses face in accessing institutional finance, she highlighted.
