Introduction:
Within the cacophony of life on the streets of Chennai, something akin to a fintech revolution has begun. At the forefront of this very change is Sucharita Mukherjee, leading her company, Kaleidofin, toward one single goal: that of financially empowering India’s vast underbanked population, with a special focus on women. By the time dawn breaks over the Bay of Bengal, Mukherjee and her colleagues are already at work, pounding out innovative solutions that weave technology with astute insight into the needs of their customers.
A Spark Ignites
The road to becoming a fintech pioneer was anything but conventional for Mukherjee. After a successful stint in London’s high-powered financial sector, she found herself questioning the impact of her work. The daughter of an Army officer, Mukherjee carried with her a sense of purpose and a desire to give back.
“I started asking myself, what am I doing? What difference am I making?” Mukherjee remembers. The questions took her back to India, into the heart of financial inclusion.
Gathering Foundations
In 2017, Mukherjee, along with Puneet Gupta, started Kaleidofin. They had envisioned a platform that would tailor financial solutions for the 600 million underbanked Indians—majority of which were women. The timing could not have been better as India’s digital infrastructure was blossoming.
“We got really excited about how we could impact customers at scale,” says Mukherjee. “There was also a qualitative dimension of the vision, which is to say, how can we make right financial products much more intuitive to customers.”
Crafting Solutions for the Underserved
Kaleidofin is singular in its approach to financial needs as a package. Recognizing that their target customer often needs combinations of savings, credit, and insurance together, the team set out to create products that addressed these needs comprehensively.
Their first product, developed with SEWA Bank, involved the combination of recurring deposits and insurance to create a goal-based savings solution. This began the change for how future developments at Kaleidofin were going to be.
Navigating the Fintech Frontier
With the growing success of Kaleidofin, so did its product suite. Today, it offers four key products:
1. Ki Score: AI/ML-driven credit and financial health score.
2. Ki Credit: Middleware solution for lender onboarding and fraud checks.
3. Ki View: Risk Management Dashboard for Lenders
4. Ki Cash: Customer Engagement Platform and Digital Savings Bank
Every product is designed based on what the end-user needs to overcome the challenges that underbanked people and small businesses face.
Sailing Through Setbacks
It was not a smooth ride. The massive economy in cash and low digital literacy led to huge challenges. Mukherjee and her team had to think out of the box to reach their audience and gain trust.
“The lives of our customers are pretty volatile,” says Mukherjee. “So probably, they need savings, credit, and insurance all put together. But they don’t have the time or money because time is money for them.”
To surmount these issues, Kaleidofin took the approach ‘click and brick,’ putting together an easy-to-use tech platform with a network of trusted partners on the ground. This was their way to provide last-mile connectivity and support to their clientele.
A Symphony of Success
Currently, Kaleidofin has over 3 million users, with a phenomenal 97% female user base. Kaleidofin currently aligns with 50 channel partners across 17 states to move further out in terms of scale and reach.
The success story has not evaded notice. Amongst its investors are prominent ones such as Bharat Fund, Blume Ventures, and even the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Shattering the Glass Ceiling
Among the many outstanding features of Kaleidofin comes its commitment to gender diversity. Within an otherwise male-dominated industry, Mukherjee has brought together a board where most of its members are women.
“I know it’s unusual, and I can tell you it’s a huge competitive advantage,” says Mukherjee with elation. This focus on diversity doesn’t apply only to the board and trickles down into each operation and product design at the company.
The Road Ahead
As Kaleidofin looks to the future, Mukherjee and her team are anything but complacent. They are getting ready to upgrade their credit platform and further fine-tune their Ki Score offering.
“We always want to be ahead of the curve,” Mukherjee says. “Whether it is on Ki Score, which means underwriting better or in retaining our customers better, we want to scale up our customer impact.”
Lessons from the Trenches
The kaleidofin journey holds some lessons for aspiring entrepreneurs looking to make a social impact:
1. Find your purpose: For Mukherjee, it was the urge to make a meaningful change from being just an investment banker and moving into fintech.
2. Be customer-centric: Detailed knowledge of the needs and challenges of underbanked people has been the success mantra for Kaleidofin.
3. Embrace Innovation: Kaleidofin has used technology and customized solutions to tap this traditionally underserved segment.
4. Diverse Team: Kaleidofin’s commitment to gender diversity has been one of its biggest competitive advantages.
5. Be Adaptable: It was able to continuously iterate and change fast in this fast-developing landscape of Fintech.
As the day reaches its end in Chennai, so does the sun on yet another day, and it is business as usual at Kaleidofin with Mukherjee and her team. Every small win brings them closer toward their goal: financial inclusion for all. Kaleidofin represents a shining example of how purpose-driven innovation could make a lasting difference in the story of the fintech revolution of India—one customer after another.
