Corporate Reports

Published: Dec 29, 2021
Updated: Dec 29, 2021

Machinery minders to small biz - Origa Lease Finance

Just when one thought all entrepreneurial paths have already been explored comes a 40-year-old with a game-changing innovation – leasing and management of high-quality equipment to the MSME sector of the country. Shrirang Tambe has literally written a new chapter in the industrial history of India by setting up Origa Lease Finance, the country’s first technology-enabled asset life cycle management company. The Mumbai-headquartered company not only leases quality machinery and equipments but also provides leasing and asset life cycle management solutions to small and medium enterprises in the core and healthcare segments. Tambe, who is founder and CEO of the startup, is proud of the fact that it is the first company in India to offer a comprehensive equipment leasing solution on a seamless technology platform.

The philosophy behind his novel idea has far-reaching implications for the country’s economic development. India is a vast country with a huge population exceeding 1.3 billion. If high-quality equipment is made available to small and medium units, it can help them achieve higher production. What is more, besides offering equipment on lease, Origa takes care of maintenance, allowing clients to focus on production and marketing, thereby expanding business and generating more jobs. This, in turn, can push up demand for goods and services, resulting in rapid industrial development, pushing up the GDP of the country and improving the standard of life of many. If innovative entrepreneurs like Mr Tambe are encouraged, India can certainly become a prosperous country on par with the West.

Mr Tambe has impeccable financial management credentials. After becoming a CA, he was a fund manager with US-based private equity fund Clearwater Capital Partners, where he was responsible for investment in stressed assets and their turnaround. He was also involved in large LBO transactions in Indonesia and Thailand. He moved to Price Waterhouse Cooper in the assurance advisory segment and later was part of the M&A team at ANZ Investment Bank. Mr Tambe has also worked in modelling and budgeting fund- raising private equity investment and post-investment asset management.

Mr Tambe has impeccable financial management credentials. After becoming a CA, he was a fund manager with US-based private equity fund Clearwater Capital Partners, where he was responsible for investment in stressed assets and their turnaround. He was also involved in large LBO transactions in Indonesia and Thailand. He moved to Price Waterhouse Cooper in the assurance advisory segment and later was part of the M&A team at ANZ Investment Bank. Mr Tambe has also worked in modelling and budgeting fund- raising private equity investment and post-investment asset management.

During his financial services career, Mr Tambe realised that equipment leasing had become a fast-growing business in the US and Europe. In fact, 46 per cent of the SME financing in Europe and 72 per cent of SME financing in the US take place through asset leasing. This factor has contributed significantly to the rapid industrialization of these Western countries. On the other hand, in a developing country like India, it is less than one per cent of the total credit disbursed. This dichotomy was what made Mr Tambe seize the opportunity of replicating the West’s asset leasing model here.

According to industry reports, the market for alternative financing is conservatively estimated to be $ 50 billion. This means that there is a huge gap between the conventional financing available and the actual needs of newage companies. The Origa platform claims to be critically positioned to bridge that gap. Says Harshad Lahoti, CEO of Anl Ventures, a venture fund which has invested Rs 7 crore in Origa, "Mr Tambe's Origa is one of the first companies in India to provide asset leasing solutions for unbanked and underbanked SMEs with high growth potential. Its hybrid model offers a perfect blend between online discovery and offline delivery of financial products, thus helping achieve scale. We believe that each vertical of Origa has the potential to touch millions of dollars by themselves, and Origa could within the next decade very well aspire to become a bank and contribute to the ongoing financial inclusion drive in India."

Maintains Ulhas Deshpande, an investor and board member of Origa, "This is an innovative business model that will immensely help mid-sized entrepreneurs gain access to much-needed funding."

ONE-STOP SOLUTION

Another speciality of Mr Tambe's innovative enterprise is the fact that his company does not stop at leasing highquality equipment but also makes necessary arrangements to maintain it after installation. He has created a set-up of qualified experts to look after installed machinery and equipment. What is more, Mr Tambe helps entrepreneurs in recruiting trained personnel. Thus, Origa provides an integrated service package to small- and medium-sized businessmen, who can then concentrate on developing their business through larger production and aggressive marketing without worrying about issues like equipment maintenance.