Apollo Finvest: Mikhil Innani on Building the AWS for Digital Lending in India
What do you do after you've helped build two of India's biggest tech unicorns? For Mikhil Innani, the answer wasn't to retire on a beach, but to tackle one of the country's most fundamental problems: access to credit. After playing pivotal roles in scaling PharmEasy from a living room idea to a market leader, and then helping Hotstar grow from 600 million to over 300 million users, Mikhil took on the mantle of entrepreneurship again with Apollo Finvest. His mission? To build the "AWS for Digital Lending"—infrastructure that allows any company to offer loans to their customers without becoming a bank.
Mikhil's journey is a masterclass in modern Indian entrepreneurship. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, he returned to India to join the early team at CouponDunia, getting his first taste of the startup hustle. But it was at PharmEasy where he truly earned his stripes. "We started in my living room," he recalls. "For the first two weeks, we didn't even have an office. We launched an app with just two screens—a camera button to upload a prescription and a promise of 20% off. That was it." This MVP mindset, prioritizing speed and customer feedback over perfection, became his signature style.
The 'AWS for Lending' Vision
Apollo Finvest solves a massive infrastructure gap. Just as AWS allows anyone to host a website without building a data center, Apollo Finvest allows fintechs to lend money without getting an NBFC license. "We are a plug-and-play digital NBFC," Mikhil explains. "Any tech company can plug into our APIs and start offering loans to their customers in 48 hours. We handle the compliance, the capital, and the regulatory headache."
Lessons from PharmEasy: The Art of the MVP
At PharmEasy, Mikhil and his team defied conventional wisdom. They entered a regulated market with a "shoot first, ask questions later" approach to validation. They couldn't run Google Ads for medicines, so they spammed WhatsApp groups with offers. They didn't have a delivery fleet, so co-founders personally drove to pharmacies, bought medicines, and delivered them to customers.
"We realized that 99% of our orders were for chronic illnesses like diabetes and blood pressure," Mikhil says. "People didn't care about a fancy app. They cared about getting their monthly medicines on time and cheaper. That insight—that our core customer was a chronic patient, not a one-time buyer—changed our entire strategy. We pivoted in three weeks."
Scaling Hotstar: Building for Billions
Moving from a scrappy startup to a corporate giant like Hotstar (now Disney+ Hotstar) required a different gear. Mikhil was tasked with bringing tech in-house. "You can't outsource your core product," he argues passionately. "Hotstar is a video streaming company. If you outsource the app to an agency, you've outsourced your soul."
He built the tech team from the ground up, scaling the platform to handle unprecedented traffic during IPL matches. His key takeaway? Hire leaders who are better than you. "At that scale, you can't do everything. You need pseudo-founders—leaders who take ownership of their vertical so completely that you don't have to worry about it."
Mikhil's Playbook for Building Tech
- Identify Core vs. Context: Build what is your "secret sauce" in-house (e.g., credit underwriting for a fintech). Buy or outsource commoditized tech (e.g., loan management systems, push notifications).
- Don't Reinvent the Wheel: Use world-class tools like CleverTap or Mixpanel instead of building internal analytics dashboards.
- Sales Over Code: Founders often hide behind writing code because sales involves rejection. "Sales is the only thing that matters. Don't build in a vacuum."
The Apollo Finvest Mission
With Apollo Finvest, Mikhil is democratizing the "black box" of lending. Traditionally, becoming a lender in India took years of regulatory approvals and millions in capital. Apollo Finvest has turned that into an API call. By providing the license, the capital, and the tech stack, they are enabling a new wave of fintech innovation where ride-sharing apps can lend to drivers, and e-commerce platforms can offer "Buy Now, Pay Later" instantly.
The Infrastructure Advantage
- 48 Hours: Time to go live with a lending product using Apollo's APIs, vs. 18 months traditionally.
- Plug-and-Play: Complete stack including KYC, loan management, and collections.
- Regulatory Shield: Apollo handles the heavy lifting of RBI compliance for its partners.
Advice for Aspiring Entrepreneurs
Mikhil advises against optimizing for money early in your career. "If you optimize for money, you'll be in a rat race till you're 40, making decisions based on salary rather than passion," he warns. Instead, he suggests joining a high-growth startup led by a founder you respect. "You're not joining a company; you're joining a founder. Learn from them, build your network, and the money will follow."
Mikhil's Truths
1. Focus is Everything: Don't multitask. Do one narrow thing incredibly well.
2. Talk to Competitors: The market is big enough. Your "competitors" are your best teachers. Call them.
3. Be Patient: There are no overnight successes. Give yourself a decade.
4. Exits are Bittersweet: Money is great, but the loss of purpose after selling your "baby" is real.
About the Guest
Mikhil Innani is the Managing Director and CEO of Apollo Finvest. A graduate of Carnegie Mellon University, he has been a key figure in the Indian startup ecosystem for over a decade. He was part of the early leadership team at CouponDunia (acquired by Times Internet), a co-founder at PharmEasy (India's first e-pharmacy unicorn), and a VP at Hotstar (Disney+), where he led growth and product. At Apollo Finvest, he is building the digital infrastructure to enable any company to become a fintech lender.
Apollo Finvest is a public limited NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company) listed on the Bombay Stock Exchange. It positions itself as a technology-first financial institution, providing "Lending as a Service" APIs to fintechs and consumer tech companies. By abstracting the complexities of regulation and capital, Apollo Finvest empowers businesses to offer seamless credit solutions to their users.