Evolution and Growth
Phase I - Setting the Foundation
- Mitrata program was launched under At-Grassroots Society on 01st Dec, 2009.
- On January 2010, At-Grassroots launched its first branch in Rehmat Nagar, Moradabad.
- The Andhra Pradesh Microfinance Crisis in October 2010 changed the environment of microfinance sector but At-Grassroots continued to tread with caution and grew steadily.
- By March 2011, At-Grassroots reached 1 Crore disbursal mark.
- By March 2013, At-Grassroot’s loan portfolio reached 2 Crore with over 3000 active clients and its presence in two districts of UP.
Phase II - Growth and Expansion
- By March 2015, At-Grassroots crossed the mark of 5000 active client thus beginning its Phase II of moving towards Non-Banking Financial Company regime.
- In the Financial Year 2015-16, At-Grassroots achieved a growth of over 250% and crossed the mark of 8.5 Crore outstanding portfolio.
- At-Grassroots also received its first external funding in Financial Year 2015-16 and began strengthening the Internal Processes, Systems and Human Capital to enhance its preparedness for NBFC.
- Regular infusion of capital by the promoters along with reinvestment of all surplus income over expenses in last 5 years indicates a long term commitment and strong confidence on the robustness of the program by the promoters and management.
- The program was well capitalized to leverage more debt/external borrowing to fuel the growth with extremely low Debt/equity ratio of 6% in FY 2015-16.
- With a strong focus on efficiency, productivity and growth in portfolio in FY 2015-16, there has been a significant growth in the income compared to costs leading to a very healthy Operational Self Sufficiency (OSS) ratio of 161% by March 2016.
Phase III - Launch of MITRATA Inclusive Financial Services Pvt. Ltd. - NBFC
- On 1st September 2017, Mitrata program was formally re-launched under a Non-Banking Finance Company called Sona Finance Pvt. Ltd.
- Portfolio of Rs. 6.7 crore transferred to the Sona Finance (NBFC) from At-Grassroots along with branches and staff from 1st September 2017 as we plan to scale up the operation under the NBFC regulatory structure.
- As on November 30th, 2017 we have an outstanding loan portfolio of Rs. 8.04 crore given to 7,052 borrowers well diversified across 3 states of Uttar Pradesh (39%), Bihar (39%) and Madhya Pradesh (22%).