CashPlus: A lending marketplace for the salaried class which aims to help individuals with small-sized capital requirements

Money is what drives most people – the fuel for their dreams and aspirations – to put in the best effort in their professional lives. (More) Money is equated with progress. (More) Money means social status and all the other adjectives that matter to an individual from a personal point of view. Economic activity requires men and women to be productive and contribute in creating value for as many people as possible, in turn driving wealth. There are many ways of coming into wealth and it’s up to each individual to look out for their own. In fact, the plots of hundreds of movies revolve solely around making money by hook or crook.

It is inevitable that during the course of their lives, individuals will tend to develop ways and means of acquiring material possessions that have the potential to bring them closer to their aspirations. They may invest in an educational product that will teach them a valuable skill relevant in the job market. They may invest in their health and wellness goals to become more productive among other myriad means to enhance the quality of their lives over the long-term. 

Along with their personal commitment, individuals need capital to make progress.

Today, at Bangalore Insider we spoke to the founder of CASH+, a lending marketplace for the salaried class which aims to help individuals with small-sized capital requirements. Below are the excerpts from our interaction.   

Give a brief info about your startup?

CASH+ is a marketplace lending platform providing small ticket size (5K to 50K) creditline for a short tenure (62 & 90 days) to the salaried class through Financial institutions (NBFC). CASH+ is live in 14 cities and has facilitated credit of  14 crores till date covering major Tier I cities with 75% repeat customers. The customers are acquired organically without any money spent on advertisements till date. CASH+ has 7 lakhs downloads as of now from users across india.

What made you start your startup and what problem does it solve?

As India’s middle class expands, 60% of the country’s population is estimated to regularly face liquidity shortfalls, and  there is no small ticket size lending being granted from NBFC or  Banks for short tenure, and the borrowers have to depend on their colleagues, pawnbrokers, money lenders etc, which is what prompted me to create a solution where we provide small ticket size loans for short tenure through a mobile app where with a few basic details and click of a button, money would be credited to customer’s  account. 

Tell us about yourself, your previous jobs/ventures? What were you doing before this startup?

I have a total experience of 18+ years in the field of management, operations and administration. I have had 2years of experience in trading of IT Commodities and 12+ years of experience in trading of natural resources like Indonesian / South African Coal, I had 4 branches with a directorship in HNL Energy Pvt Ltd.

Where is your startup based out of? Why do you think that is the best place for you?

Our startup is based out of Bangalore, the reason I chose here is, firstly that I stay in Bangalore since childhood and Secondly because Bangalore is popularly known as the IT hub of India, with the best of its IT resources and facilities for startups.    

As a startup founder, what are you paranoid about? What keeps you awake at night?

The product ( CASH+)  and its exponential growth, the company’s future roadmap is what keeps me awake and excited at the same time.

Who are your competitors and how are you better than them?

There are enough competitors in the market like earlysalary, moneytap etc. However,we are unique in terms of the small ticket size which ranges from only 5k-50k with a short tenure of max 90 days.  

How hard is it to have a work-life balance as a startup founder and how do you manage it?

With 18 years of work experience in business operations, management & administration, I have learnt over the years on how to balance between work and personal life, prioritising it accordingly.

Have you raised funding? If yes, then we would like to know the details. If no then please tell us if you are looking to raise.

We haven’t raised funding.

Being in operations for the past two years, We are now looking to raise funding for the growth of the business i.e launching CASH+ in multiple cities in tier II, III.

No, we haven’t raised any funding yet. 

We are over 2.5 years old and Completely bootstrapped since inception, 

We have understood the needs and behaviours of our customer base – not just in the metros, but even in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, therefore we are now looking to raise funding for the growth of the business by reaching wide geographical reach and we are also looking forward to automate our credit process, and to eventually move down the pyramid and promote financial inclusion to all segments of the economy.

What gets you excited about this company?

My Team & The product, which can be scaled up to PAN India and made available for 70% of the population.

Tell us how a day in your life looks like? Your schedule for a day right from the time you get up till you hit the bed at night.

I kick start my day as early as 6 in the morning. I workout for my mind and body with some exercise, followed by meditation. Finish my morning rituals with breakfast with my family and head to work by 9.30am. As I start my day, I list down the agenda for the day, have discussion and feedback with my team or vendors. After scoring off all my tasks for the day, I end my day with a take away each day. I spend some quality time again with my family after work and look forward for another bright day ahead.

Tell us about your team and how did you meet each other?

I have a small team of 8 members. 3 members for  Credit Risk Assessment, 1 for Recovery, 1 for Customer Support, 1 for  Accountant and 1 for Strategy Head. I also have one In- house senior stack developer on the tech front.I procured my team mostly through people references. Along with me, I also have Mohan Doshi, as a tech strategist for CASH+.