Pavitra Walvekar was happy with his well-paying job in San Francisco, where he worked as a credit manager at Wells Fargo. Because of his excellent performance, the company even offered him a scholarship to pursue his MBA. However, Pavitra had always wanted to start his own business. So, in 2007, he made the tough decision to give up both his scholarship and job, and returned home to Pune. Unfortunately, his first business, an online education platform for SAT students, didn’t take off.
In 2009, Pavitra noticed that many manufacturers with orders from big companies like Mercedes and Volkswagen were struggling financially. This gave him the idea to start Kudos Finance & Investments.
Kudos Finance & Investments is a Non-Banking Finance Company (NBFC) that focuses on helping small businesses (MSMEs) by offering loans. Pavitra received the necessary NBFC license in 2010 and ran the company as a pilot for the first three years. The company provides three types of loans: short-term loans (1–6 months), business loans (up to 24 months), and machinery loans (30–36 months).