New Delhi, Nov 2 (KNN) Private equity (PE) firm Norwest Venture Partners has led the latest round of investment of Rs. 200 crore into MSME lender, non-banking financial company (NBFC) Veritas Finance Pvt. Ltd.

Veritas began operations in 2015 and currently has 132 branches and more than 21,000 customers.

Veritas proposes to use the fresh capital to deepen its presence in existing markets by enhancing lending to MSMEs for business expansion, working capital and for asset creation.

Veritas Finance, managing director and chief executive, D. Arulmany said, “MSMEs are the backbone of the Indian economy. Considering they are an underserved segment, they continue to need access to formal credit system.”

He added, “Through this round of funding, besides expansion, we will also strengthen our technology which will help us achieve higher productivity and bring down the cost of servicing micro-businesses.”

“Veritas Finance is uniquely positioned to drive growth and provide financial services to micro, small and medium enterprises in India,” said Sumer Juneja, director at Norwest Venture Partners.

He added, “We look forward to working with Veritas Finance team to further enhance their footprint, services and technology by bringing more value to their customers.”

Existing investors of Veritas—CDC Group Plc, UK’s Development Finance Institution and P. Surendra Pai, an anchor investor—also participated in the Series D investment, Veritas said in a statement on Thursday.