Lok Capital to invest in small finance banks

Lok Capital, backed by US-based non-profit Rockefeller Foundation, plans to invest up to $15 million in two small finance banks. It expects to close the deals in the next one year. The private equity (PE) investor is planning its third India-focused fund, of $80 million, which will invest in the financial inclusion space.

Notably, Lok Capital holds stake in four of the 10 proposed small finance banks - Ujjivan, Equitas, Utkarsh and Suryoday. The total investment of the PE firm in the four microfinance organisation is close to $25 million.

"We plan to invest $10-15 million in two more proposed small finance banks over the next 12 months," said Venky Natarajan, managing partner, Lok Advisory Services.

At present, Lok Capital has two India-focused funds, with a total investment of $100 million. Unlike its previous investments, Lok Capital would focus on the financial inclusion space outside the non-banking financial company-microfinance domain in the next fund, said Natarajan.

It will also focus on financing small and medium enterprises, housing finance and healthcare in its coming investments.