Aye Finance receives £200,000 grant from TRANSFORM to address working capital challenges for kirana stores

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Alphabet-backed Aye Finance, a fledgling non-bank finance company, has been awarded a £2,00,000 (Rs. 2.05 crore) grant from TRANSFORM, a joint initiative led by Unilever, the UK’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office and EY.

This scholarship has been introduced to address the working capital challenges of Kirana holders.

Kirana stores account for nearly 88 percent of India’s retail sector, which contributes significantly to the country’s GDP.

Sanjay Sharma, Founder and Managing Director of Aye Finance said, “Through this collaboration with TRANSFORM, we will build momentum for our newly launched BNPL product, SwitchPe, and solve financing challenges in the FMCG supply chain.”

Last month, Aye launched its new SwitchPe product to provide lines of credit to retailers to purchase supplies. With this new grant, Aye Finance will leverage Unilever (one of TRANSFORM’s founding organizations)’ extensive experience in the FMCG sector to make SwtichPe available to more grocery store owners, including women, and bring them into the fold of regulated lending.

Founded in 2015, TRANSFORM is a proven model that aims to increase its impact by working with new partner organizations across Africa, Asia and beyond. The initiative has supported over 100 projects in 17 countries and has now brought Aye Finance into the community.

The TRANSFORM program combines grant funding, business insights, and broader resources for entrepreneurs with in-depth research.