OUR MISSION
OUR VALUES
Innovation
Be curious. Explore. Pioneer.
Trustworthiness
Be fair. Keep promises. Be genuine.
Social Impact
Make a difference. Give back. Touch lives.
Being the best
Learn. Mentor. Onwards together.
Customer Commitment
Think customer. Be proactive. Exceed expectations.
OUR STORY
Summer of 2013
The summer that year was unusually hot. When the small team of founder members got together, there was something burning in all of us. All of us had spent long years with some of the finest financial organizations around the world. But we needed something more. We needed something meaningful.
There was a Government of India report that talked about Rs 25 lakh crore credit deficit in MSME industry. Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises were 6 crores in number and employed 11 crore people. The micro segment among these was the most disadvantaged when it came to access to formal credit. It was clear to us that India’s growth will not be complete without the advancement of this sector.
Indian Monsoons
By mid-year, we knew what we wanted to do. Indian monsoons were lashing the plains in North India. Dusty plains suddenly became covered with verdant green shoots. Our dream was slowly taking shape – exhilarating just like the petrichor.
Our business plan was far from complete, but our vision was clear – We wanted to be the most admired among finance businesses catering to micro businesses in India. Our core values, that we continue to abide by, followed soon after – Innovation, Trustworthiness, Being the best, Social Good and Customer Commitment.
Thus, Aye was born. Aye means ‘Yes’ in English and ‘Income’ in Hindi. Apt for what we wanted to do – say yes to the aspirations of micro enterprises by providing them with capital.
Moving mountains
As we started work, enthusiasm in the team was contagious. We knew we had mountains to move but that did not deter anyone. The initial capital for the company came from friends and angel investors. By end of 2013 we bought an NBFC so that we could start lending. But we had another challenge to surmount. It was not easy to assess the businesses we wanted to lend to. They were neither on credit bureaus nor did they have any formal financial documents. Innovation was not an option, but a necessity.
Footprints in the sands of time
In early 2014, we studied three micro enterprise clusters spread across few cities. This was the beginning of our unique cluster-based underwriting model, which even today is the bedrock of what we do. In March 2014, our first loan was given to a manufacturer of ladies shoes, who employed 6 workers and made 200 pairs of shoes every week. In the next six months, we disbursed around 200 loans through 2 branches in Delhi.
How time flies
In 2015, we received funding from Elevation Capital and Accion. By 2017, the small team grew to a family of over 1000 people. In 2019, we were included in the Systemically Important NBFCs list of Reserve Bank of India.
Living the dream
Today we have branches spread across 21 states in India. We have lent to over 9.8 lakh customers. We have thousands of employees helping these customers pursue their dreams. Investors backing us are some of the best in the world. We have been on the leaderboard when it comes to customer satisfaction scores (NPS) and employee satisfaction scores (GPTW).
Miles to go
While we look back at our journey with pride, we remain humble and grateful. We know that our journey is far from over. We would like to remain a small company at heart. Eager, ever learning, close to our customers, nimble and relevant. We would like to be known not just for what we achieve, but for how we achieve it too. We will not lose sight of what we set out to be – the most admired micro enterprise lender. Aye to that.
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2013
Received NBFC licence.
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2014
Opened first branch in Delhi.
Expanded to Uttar Pradesh.
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2015
Rs.500 lakhs loans disbursed.
Expanded to Rajasthan, Punjab, and Haryana.
Opened 16 branches.
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2016
Entered into South India - Karnataka and Tamil Nadu.
Digital journey begins
Automated loan origination and decisioning.
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2017
Sanjay Sharma, MD, recognised as 100 Top-Most Influential BFSI Leaders from World BFSI Congress.
Received BFSI Leadership Award from Banking & Finance Post.
Reached 50000 customers.
Loan portfolio crossed Rs. 400 Cr.
Running Breakeven was achieved.
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2018
100 branches across 18 states.
Ranked among top 20 in BFSI segment by Great Places to Work.
Facebook Startup Day Award received.
Honoured with Economic Times BFSI Award.
SKOCH order of Merit received.
Conferred with Super Startup Asia Award.
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2019
RBI classifies Aye as a systemically important NBFC.
Customers 200,000+.
Employees 3,000+.
Portfolio Rs 1700 Cr+.
Embedded DS and AI as core way of doing business.
Ranked 4th in BFSI segment by GPTW. Among the top 15 companies in India.
Received Digi-Dhan Fintech Award from MeitY, Government of India.
Received ET BFSI excellence award.
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2020
Ranked among top 14 in GPTW.
Branch network crossed 200.
Reached the 50,000 followers mark on LinkedIn.
Health Committee set up to ensure Employee wellbeing during the pandemic
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2021
Ranked 9th Best Place to Work in Asia by the GPTW Institute, 4th among the 100 Best Companies to Work for and 1st in BFSI segment
Awarded the SME Financier of The Year - Asia (Gold) By SME Finance Forum
Received the Business Transformation Award by MINT and TechCircle
Received the DNA-Distinguished NBFC Award By Banking Frontiers
Branch network crosses 300
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2022
Ranked 2nd among the 100 Best Companies to Work for by the GPTW Institute
Ranked 1st in BFSI Segment by the GPTW Institute
Ranked 4th amongst Best Places to Work in Asia by the GPTW Institute
Awarded the Most Impactful Leadership in Soonicorn Category by BW Unicorn Summit & Awards.
Won the Elets 1st NBFC100 Leader of Excellence Award for Financial Inclusion Crusader.
Opened 86 branches in 2022, bringing the total number of branches to 398
Ranked 5th best Indian Tech startup to work at in 2022 by Ambition Box
Crossed 1 lac followers on LinkedIn
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2023
Reached the milestone of INR 100 Billion MSMEs loans
Ranked 6th by Great Place to Work amongst India's Best Workplaces to Work for in 2023
Winner of Inclusive Enterprise Lending by NBFC at Inclusive Finance India Award
Recognised as India's Best Workplaces in BFSI Sector
Sanjay Sharma, MD, awarded India's Most Trusted Leaders 2023 by GPTW
Best Data Driven NBFC of the Year at 14th NBFC & Fintech Awards in association with FIDC
Elets Excellence Award for Most innovative use of Use of AI in Fintech
The Money Awareness and Inclusion Award for Best For-Profit Project For Underserved Communities
Won the Governance Now Award issuefor Innovation in Financial Inclusion Technology
Awarded the Quantec India Award for Best Use Of Data & Analytics Project