Indel Money Limited, a digital gold loan provider, launched eight branches in the Delhi-NCR region, on Tuesday. This is in line with the expansion strategy of the Kerala-based non-banking financial company (NBFC), which hopes to introduce eight more branches in the first quarter of FY24.

“The rising demand for gold loans in Delhi and its outskirts is prompting us to expand our footprint in the region. In response to this growing interest, we are enhancing our presence and introducing specialized gold loan schemes to better cater to the increased demand,” said Umesh Mohanan, CEO and executive whole-time director at Indel Money Limited in an exclusive interaction with Outlook Start-Up.

He added that the gold loan focused fintech plans to expand to the states of Gujarat and Andaman Nicobar in the upcoming months of FY2024 and to Rajasthan and West Bengal by the next year, as it keeps its attention focused on tier 2 and 3 cities.

Alongside the strategic pan-India expansion, the company has also announced the fourth public issue of its secured non-convertible debentures (NCDs)at a face value of Rs 1,000 each. The issue will open on January 30, 2024 and close on Monday, February 12, 2024.

The issue includes a base issue size for up to Rs 100 crore with an option to retain over-subscription up to Rs100 crore aggregating up to Rs 200 crore. Vivro Financial Services is the lead manager to the issue. 

Indel Money has raised around Rs 260 crore in the past three years and plans to raise a fifth issue by the next financial year. The company will use the capital it raises in the upcoming round for onward lending, financing and for repayment/prepayment of principal and interest on borrowings of the company.

The company claimed that its total outstanding assets under management (AUM), excluding off-balance sheet assets, amounts to Rs 81,740.86 lakh as on September 30, 2023, which stood at Rs 64,768.53 lakh as on March 31, 2023. Gold Loans accounted for 82 per cent of its loan portfolio. Mohanan also added that apart from gold loans, the company provides personal privileged loans and loans for MSMEs, however a major part of the company's portfolio remains in the gold loan market and would continue to do so.

He also added that the company is looking to go public by the end of FY2026. “We are gearing up for the IPO by FY2026-27, and thus we're coming up with such small debt issues, so that we have traction across India soon,” he stated.

Indel Money currently has 268 branches across India most of which are based out of South India. The company is aiming at opening over 500branches and reach the portfolio size of Rs 5000 crore by FY2026 before filing for the IPO.

“We also have a budding third-party vertical for forex, for which we've recently got the license. So, along with the current revenue, we are expecting about 10% revenue generation from our third-party verticals which includes forex, domestic money transfer etc,” he said.