MC Exclusive | Lendingkart taps veteran banker Prashant Joshi as CEO after Fullerton takeover

Accel promotes Pratik Agarwal and Rachit Parekh to Partner

Fullerton-backed Lendingkart has roped in former Managing Director and Head of Consumer Banking at DBS Bank, Prashant Joshi, as the new Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

The appointment, effective April 1, 2025, was approved by the company’s board during a meeting held on March 28. Joshi’s elevation comes amid strategic leadership changes following a majority stake acquisition by Temasek’s Fullerton Financial Holdings (FFH) — a long-term investor in the group.

FFH, which first invested in Lendingkart in 2019, has so far poured in nearly Rs 970 crore, including a Rs 252 crore infusion last year, giving it a controlling stake in the fintech group’s parent, Lendingkart Technologies.

Founded in 2014 by Harshvardhan Lunia, Lendingkart also counts Saama Capital, Mayfield, India Quotient, Bertelsmann, Darrin Capital, and Sistema Asia Fund among its investors.

Joshi brings over three decades of experience in retail banking, SME finance, and operations. He is expected to steer the company through a phase of restructuring, cost control, and portfolio recalibration, as the group works to bounce back from rising credit stress and moderating disbursals.

The banker joined DBS Bank in August 2020, around the time the Singaporean lender acquired the distressed Lakshmi Vilas Bank. With a rich career spanning stints at IndoStar Capital and Deutsche Bank, Joshi led DBS’s consumer banking business across over 600 branches in India.

He previously served as Managing Director and COO at IndoStar Capital Finance and spent over eight years at Deutsche Bank as Managing Director and Head of Private and Business Clients in India.

Meanwhile, DBS has named Ambuj Chandna — former President at Kotak Mahindra Bank — as Joshi’s successor to lead its consumer banking business in India.

A crucial transition 

Joshi’s entry comes at a critical time for the company, which has faced mounting pressure on asset quality and profitability.

As of December 2024, Lendingkart, which disburses loans via its in-house NBFC (Lendingkart Finance) and co-lending arrangements with other financial institutions, reported a consolidated loss of Rs 253 crore for the first nine months of FY25, compared to a net profit of Rs 3.25 crore in FY24 and Rs 118.8 crore in FY23, per the rating agency India Ratings and Research (Ind-Ra).

The company’s credit costs surged to 6.9% of the average AUM during the period due to repayment challenges in the unsecured MSME loan segment. AUM contracted by about 19% due to business consolidation.

Despite the dip in profits, operating revenue rose 36.6% year-on-year to Rs 1,090.6 crore in FY24. However, leverage climbed to 5.02x by 9MFY25. The rating agency noted that recent equity infusions likely moderated it below 4.5x by FY25-end.

While profitability remains under pressure, analysts see room for a turnaround. The group’s co-lending partnerships, digital lending stack, and access to government guarantee schemes are expected to support near-term liquidity and long-term growth, it added.