VMPL
New Delhi [India], June 9: India's credit landscape is undergoing a significant transformation with a shift towards a digital and consumer-driven ecosystem. With retail credit growing leaps and bound, the surge is fueled by FinTech innovation, AI-led underwriting and rising consumption. Personal loans and BNPL products are gaining momentum, while NBFCs and private credit funds play a pivotal role in bridging financial gaps left by traditional banks.
The "Crafting Bharat - Season 3" presented by AWS Startups, an initiative by NewsReach and production partner - HT Smartcast, explores the founders' resilience, agility and passion to build a super startup and inspire the next wave of entrepreneurs. This series is hosted by Gautam Srinivasan, famed for hosting a diverse range of TV and digital programs, currently consulting editor at CNBC (India), CNN-News18, Forbes India, and The Economic Times.
In this episode, we highlight Akshay Mehrotra, MD & Group CEO of Fibe, who is building a system where credit is not just accessible, but intelligently aligned with consumer aspirations and life goals. He shared insights on how Fibe is reshaping borrowing for India's youth by making credit invisible, instantaneous, and purpose driven by lending AI, machine learning, and deep consumer insights. Discover the inspiring where we deconstruct the blueprint of growth for India's super startups through this series.
Edited Excerpts:
You started your entrepreneurship journey in your mid 30s leaving a high-profile job. How nervous were you?
Honestly, I wasn't very nervous. Confidence comes naturally when you've built strong experience over time. Both Ashish and I had nearly two decades of experience working together across roles and organizations, which gave us clarity and trust in our approach. We have developed the ability to solve complex problems, think at scale, and ask the right questions, which is how to build teams, move fast, stay close to the consumer, and solve real needs. Our prior experience, especially around risk-first thinking, rapid growth, and delivering strong customer experiences, gave us the conviction to take the leap.
What made you confident that you could make money with this idea?
Our early traction gave us confidence. Within days of launching in February 2016, we saw hundreds of users, and within months, demand outpaced our ability to lend. What stood out was that users weren't just borrowing once but they were solving ongoing cash flow needs. That pushed us to deeply understand why they needed money and how they used it.
As we learned, we kept evolving by using technology to enhance customer experience, journey mapping, and risk management. Over time, our strength came from growing with our users and retaining them as their financial needs evolved.
How has your approach to risk evolved from a functional role of EarlySalary to Fibe a full-scale fintech lending platform?
Our understanding of risk evolved by deeply understanding the consumer--what they need credit for and how those needs change over time. We built this around three key pillars. First, continuous risk management; where we reassess every customer monthly, adapting credit dynamically based on their behavior and lifecycle. Second, purpose-driven lending; moving away from generic credit to offering timely, meaningful financing for specific needs, often minimizing unnecessary costs. Third, viewing risk as a growth partnership. It's not just about lending money, but supporting customers as they progress in life whether it's healthcare, education, or skill development.
This approach helped us evolve beyond traditional unsecured lending into a broader ecosystem of financing solutions. By aligning credit with real-life aspirations, we've built a model that balances risk management with long-term customer growth and engagement.
Delegation is often a challenge for founders. How did you learn to step back, trust your team, and focus on the bigger picture?
It's definitely one of the hardest transitions. Early on, you're deeply involved in everything because the business feels personal. But over time, you realize that true scale comes from letting others do things even better than you. For us, it started with hiring the right people and building strong leadership at every level. We focused on empowering managers to grow into leaders, which created a capable, self-driven team. The second shift was leveraging systems and data. With the right dashboards and processes in place, you can track performance without being involved in every detail. That balance allows you to step back with confidence, knowing your team is equipped to execute while you stay focused on the bigger picture.
Stay tuned to Crafting Bharat - Season 3 as we bring you these inspiring entrepreneurs for insightful and candid discussions with Gautam Srinivasan.
Quote: "Credit should feel invisible and intuitive, showing up exactly when needed, without friction, delays, or complexity."
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