Happy enters food-tech lending in partnership with Swiggy

According to Google report and Boston Consulting Group, the fast-growing online food market in India is expected to touch US $ 7.5 to 8 billion at 25 to 30% CAGR by 2022, gives testimony to the fact that India loves its food. While food tech aggregators are riding on the wave of rapid digitization, favorable consumer disposition, and increased penetration in smaller cities, many small restaurants are boosting their growth like no other. According to a report published in 2019, India's food services market is estimated at Rs 4.24 trillion. Approximately 65% of India's food services market comprises unorganized or unregulated joints, most of whom do not have access to formal credit sources. And that's where digital lending fintech Happy has stepped in to help.

In the current pandemic-led situation, small-scale restaurants that live on a day-to-day cash flow basis have been the worst hit and are struggling to meet their rent and staff costs. Happy'sIn partnership with India's leading online food delivery platform Swiggy, Happy's entry into the food-tech sector could not have come at a better time. Happy offers small-scale restaurants with short-term, small-ticket, and easy-to-repay loans. Already a market leader, Happy addresses the needs of small and micro-businesses in India, a segment underserved by traditional financial institutions. Through the Swiggy Capital Assist program, Happy will extend this capability to thousands of Swiggy partner restaurants across all major cities through its completely digital and paperless lending model.

Manish Khera, founder, and chief executive officer, Happy, says, "Our objective is to enable small-scale restaurants to get quick access to credit to meet their growth and working capital needs. Especially when the pandemic-led slowdown has hit these businesses, this plant will aid their recovery and help them stay afloat in the current times."

Happy leverages a machine learning-based model to instantly underwrite loans to interested restaurateurs based on their past sales performance, among other data points. Combined with the unique product, the technological edge will make this partnership a one-stop destination for small and medium-scale restaurants to achieve their business dreams.

Happy's lending partner is Arth, a new-age finance venture that aims to redefine the way micro-enterprises discover financial services by creating an enabling ecosystem built on advanced technology, data, and deep customer connect.

Happy is a fast-growing, fully digital-lending Fintech targeting a multi-billion-dollar credit gap in India's micro-businesses, delivering flexible and easy short-term access to credit for small business owners proprietors in urban and city settings. Founded in 2017 by Manish Khera, Happy has so far disbursed more than 5.3 lakh loans amounting to more than Rs 255 crore across all states in India.