Warburg Pincus backed Vistaar Finance raises INR 400 Crs in debt financing from British International Investment

Financing will be used to deepen access to finance for women owned and operated businesses. 

It will expand Vistaar’s over INR 5,000 Crs portfolio of secured long-term loans to micro and small enterprises in India.

This will increase household incomes for underserved micro and small business entrepreneurs.

Bangalore, 28th January 2026: One of India’s leading MSME lending institutions, Vistaar Finance, has secured a long-term loan amounting to INR 400 Crs from the UK Government’s development finance institution and impact investor, British International Investment (BII), to support women enterprises and small businesses from underserved regions. 

Founded in 2010 as one of the pioneers in MSME lending in India, Vistaar has helped shape the MSME finance market by providing long term loans to a segment that had previously been underserved or reliant on informal, high cost borrowing.

Vistaar’s financing has enabled over 3 lakh MSMEs across 12 states in India to enhance their productive capacity and hence incomes. The company has a clear vision to serve micro and small businesses and to be catalyst in India’s drive towards “Make in India”. This has taken it to a strength of over 3,300 employees and an AUM of INR ~5,000 Crs.

India’s MSME financing gap is estimated to be between INR 50 lakh crore, or over 10% of real GDP annually, with women-owned and led enterprises facing disproportionate barriers to accessing long term finance. BII’s support is expected to assist Vistaar in expanding its secured MSME lending portfolio in India with an emphasis on serving women-owned and led enterprises and supporting entrepreneurship in the most underserved and economically constrained households. 

This loan from BII comes on top of a recent primary capital infusion amounting to 870 Crs from Motilal Oswal Group, ABC Impact, Faering Capital and Truenorth in addition to Warburg Pincus, a leading global private equity firm focused on growth, being a major shareholder in the company.

Setuka Partners LLP, a boutique advisory firm focused on catalyzing patient capital from international financial institutions for emerging and frontier market enterprises, was the exclusive advisor to Vistaar on this transaction. 

“ We are pleased to welcome BII as our long term partner in growth. This ₹400 crore funding marks a defining milestone in our journey and reinforces our commitment to strengthening India’s MSME ecosystem. We believe, MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy and the biggest growth driver, and this funding will enable us to expand access to finance, technology, and markets for small businesses across the country, specifically to women entrepreneurs.”

“A key focus of this investment will be empowering women-led MSME enterprises, who continue to be powerful yet under-represented drivers of economic development. We believe that self-reliant, innovation-driven MSMEs are critical to India’s long-term economic growth. Through targeted initiatives, customized financial solutions, and capacity-building programs, we aim to create a more inclusive and equitable entrepreneurial ecosystem.” 

“We are delighted to partner with Vistaar Finance to help strengthen credit access for India’s micro and small entrepreneurs. India’s MSME sector faces a significant credit gap, and our long term capital will support businesses that are vital to local jobs and community growth. As a 2X qualified investment, this commitment also advances greater gender equity by enabling more women entrepreneurs to scale their businesses. Vistaar’s deep presence across Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities makes it a strong partner in expanding inclusive finance, and we look forward to supporting their next phase of growth.”

Started operations in April 2010 and based in Bengaluru, Vistaar finance provides secured loans to micro, small and medium enterprises across 12 states with 300 branches and over 3,300 employees. The Company provides 100% secured lending across ticket size categories through business and housing loans and targets small businesses such as shops, small manufacturing units, power looms, kirana /general shops, and home-based industries, which do not have access to organised funding for growth.

The Company’s transparent & consistent disclosures has helped build a strong and stable liability franchise with access to 40+ lenders. Company has AUM of over INR 5,000 crs  with an AUM CAGR growth of 25% over last 10 years. Long term credit rating of the Compnay is ‘ICRA A+ (Stable)’ and ‘Care A+ (positive)’. Early investors in the company include  Elevar Equity, Omidyar Network India, Lok Capital, Saama Capital and Westbridge Capital.

For more information, visit: www.Vistaarfinance.com 

British International Investment (BII) is the UK’s development finance institution and impact investor. The organisation invests in businesses in developing countries to improve people’s lives and help protect the planet. BII’s work targets the underlying causes of poverty and the climate crisis, helping countries break free from aid dependency for good.

Between 2022-2026, at least 30 per cent of BII’s total new commitments by value will be in climate finance. BII has pledged to commit up to $1 billion in climate finance in India over this period.

BII is also a founding member of the 2X Challenge which has raised over $33.6 billion to empower women’s economic development. The company has investments in over 1,600 businesses across 66 countries and total net assets of £9.87 billion. India represents BII’s largest country-level investment portfolio with $2.5 billion invested across more than 600 businesses nationwide. 

For more information, visit: www.bii.co.uk 

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Setuka Partners LLP is a mission driven boutique advisory firm that works with responsible enterprises in emerging and frontier markets and investors to forge enduring partnerships that involve the movement of catalytic capital (debt, equity, grants) and capacity from overseas providers to deserving social enterprises. Founded in April 2019 by Aman Khanna and based in Washington DC, the firm has already unlocked catalytic capital and value creation for investors and several social enterprises in these markets.