UGRO Capital elevates Anuj Pandey as Chief Executive Officer

New Delhi: UGRO Capital has elevated Anuj Pandey to the position of Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Pandey, currently serving as the company’s Chief Risk Officer, is one of UGRO’s founding members. 

Since joining UGRO at its inception, Pandey has been involved in building the company’s risk governance and credit architecture. He has around 25 years of experience, having previously worked at companies including GSK Consumer, ABN AMRO Bank, Barclays Bank and Religare. He holds a B.Tech degree in Mechanical Engineering and is an alumnus of the Indian Institute of Management, Lucknow.

In his new position, Pandey will oversee UGRO’s pan-India MSME business operations, digital platforms and partner ecosystem. He will report to Shachindra Nath, the company’s Founder, Vice Chairman and Managing Director, who will continue to focus on long-term strategy, investor partnerships and governance.

The announcement follows several developments at UGRO, including surpassing Rs 12,000 crore in assets under management in MSME financing, the acquisition of Profectus Capital, and a capital raise.

Commenting on the appointment, Shachindra Nath said, “Anuj’s elevation as CEO is a natural progression in UGRO’s evolution as an institution. As a founding member and Chief Risk Officer, his deep understanding of MSME lending, risk, and technology-driven operations makes him ideally suited to lead execution. I will remain fully accountable for UGRO’s strategic and governance matters, while Anuj takes full charge of the business. With recently concluded acquisition of Profectus and a large capital raise, I along with my Board felt that UGRO should be steered under one strong hand who exclusively focuses on the operating performance while I continue to focus on the strategic agenda of making UGRO as India’s largest financial institution for MSME financing.”

Anuj Pandey stated, “I have been working with Shachindra for last 7 years even prior to our formation. Being part of UGRO’s founding journey has been a privilege. I look forward to leading the next phase of growth, expanding our MSME reach, scaling embedded finance, and continuing our mission of ‘solving the unsolved’ credit gap with discipline and innovation.”

UGRO Capital recently announced the proposed acquisition of Profectus Capital. The acquisition is expected to enhance UGRO’s portfolio across several lending segments including school financing, machinery finance and supply chain finance. 

Profectus had assets under management of Rs 3,468 crore as of March 2025, with operations spanning seven states and 28 branches. The company maintains a gross NPA of 1.6% and net NPA of 1.1%.

On the acquisition, Shachindra Nath said, “This strategically priced acquisition deploys our equity raise to achieve instant scale and Rs 115 Crores cost savings and annualised incremental profitability of Rs 150 Crores thus boosting ROA by 0.6–0.7%. Integrating Profectus' school finance expertise unlocks Rs 2,000 Crores growth potential and strengthens our secured asset mix – accelerating our journey to become India's largest MSME lender through enhanced Emerging Markets and Embedded Finance capabilities.”