Bangalore: Grameen Financial Services Pvt Ltd (GFSPL) popularly known as Grameen Koota (GK), a pioneer in the microfinance industry, operates across the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra and Tamil Nadu with its Head office in Bangalore.

Grameen Koota was started in May 1999 and is completing its 15 years of providing microfinance services to the poor & low income households. Starting off with nothing tangible to hinge on, just with an innate belief to provide Micro-credit and an impassioned desire to make a difference through this medium, Grameen Koota has grown into a large & strong institution instrumental in liberating lakhs of lives from the grip of poverty and making them self-sufficient through its credit services. GK’s growth story recounts the initial struggle in laying a strong foundation and the slow and steady progression while setting various benchmarks on the way in their field. Their strong focus and constant endeavour to bring the change has enabled them in performing well even in the most turbulent times.

For Grameen Koota the financial year of 2013-14 was quite eventful. Apart from being recognised and honoured by various national and international institutions for its work, it marked yet another milestone in its growth chart by touching its all-time high portfolio as targeted by the organization for the year.

The company’s outstanding loans as on March 31st 2014 stood at Rs. 809.5 Cr., up by 54% from last financial year’s Rs. 523.9 Cr., making it a Rs. 200 Cr plus Net worth company. It crossed the projected loan disbursement amount of Rs. 820 Cr. for FY2014 by disbursing Rs. 1, 028 Cr. to its clients while maintaining the repayment rate at 99.9%. The organization’s reach also extended from 3.81 Lakh members in FY 2013 to 5.68 Lakh members in FY2014, another notch up by 49%.

During the year, the Company raised Rs.80 Cr from one of their existing investors – MicroVentures. This new equity infusion will enable the company to expand its operations into newer geographies and to reach more number of poor & low income households with microfinance services.

Suresh Krishna, MD of GFSPL shared their plans for the fresh financial year while speaking on the organization’s outstanding performance and about surpassing their annual goal, “our plan was to reach more than 5 lakh poor households with microfinance this year and we have surpassed this target. Apart from providing microfinance we are endeavouring to educate our clients with financial literacy programs & building awareness on importance of clean drinking water & sanitation.”

Source:Lokesh Shastri