Lendingkart hires two new VPs to strengthen core leadership

In a significant move to enhance the company's core leadership, Lendingkart Group has announced appointment of Utsav Mehrotra, an investment banker with Axis Capital, as Vice President of Capital Markets taking charge of fund raising and marketplace initiatives, and Abhishek Arora, who was heading the seller management and growth vertical at e-commerce unicorn in Middle-East and North Africa (MENA) region - Souq.com, as the Vice President of revenue and operations.

"They bring in extensive experience with large businesses that will be critical in steering us as we move ahead on the path of rapid expansion, constantly innovating to meet the funding requirements of SMEs," said Harshvardhan Lunia, CEO and co-founder, Lendingkart Technologies.

Utsav will be working towards strengthening Lendingkart Group's capabilities to make credit accessible to small business owners.

His purview of responsibilities will include raising funds as well as spearheading marketplace initiatives to develop liability end of the business.

At Axis Capital, Utsav managed multiple structured debt transactions besides dealing with fixed income investors like mutual funds, NBFCs, banks and credit funds, both at the domestic as well as global level.

"A vast majority of SMEs are unable to access credit from traditional banks and other formalised institutions. Lendingkart Finance, through its reach and lending potential is working towards enabling true financial inclusion for small and medium enterprises. I really look forward to working in this organisation to help solve for the working capital gap that exists in the sector even today," he said.

As the company continues to expand its reach across the country with the aim of seeing growth of 300 percent by the end of FY18, Abhishek Arora has come on board to ensure smooth and seamless running of the operations and revenue vertical.

With over 13 years of varied experience across shipping, logistics, corporate, retail, banking and e-commerce, Abhishek led seller growth and performance for the MENA region in his last stint at Souq.com.

He has also worked with leading Fortune 500 companies including Amazon, Citibank and AP Moller Maersk Group driving business revenue, business development, acquisition, human resource capability augmentation and profitability.

"I am very excited to be part of their inspiring growth journey and look forward to play a significant role in it," he said.