Kudos Finance: How Naresh Vigh is Building the 'Shopify for Fintechs' with API-Based Lending
In the high-stakes world of Indian finance, launching a new lending product has traditionally been a nine-month marathon of paperwork, regulatory hurdles, and fragmented service providers. Naresh Vigh, Co-founder of Kudos Finance & Investments, is crashing that timeline into a single week. By building an "Infrastructure Layer NBFC," Naresh is providing the digital engine that allows 35+ fintechs to disburse loans instantly. With over 30 lakh paperless loans processed and a vision to be the "Shopify for Fintechs," Kudos is proving that in the digital age, technology isn't just a department—it is the entire company.
Naresh Vigh’s journey is a story of corporate mastery meeting entrepreneurial serendipity. An engineer from Delhi College of Engineering and an MBA from FMS Delhi, Naresh built a distinguished career at banking giants like HSBC, Citigroup, and Bajaj Finserv. His entry into entrepreneurship wasn't through a boardroom, but an elevator. After meeting his future co-founder Pavitra Walvekar in their residential building's lift, Naresh joined Kudos, eventually leading a radical pivot that transformed a traditional NBFC into a digital infrastructure powerhouse.
The Paperless Revolution
In just two years, Kudos Finance has disbursed 30 lakh (3 million) loans without processing a single sheet of paper. While 80% of Indian lending still relies on physical agreements, Kudos uses a stack of 35+ APIs to handle everything from e-KYC to automated bank statement analysis in under five minutes.
The Problem: The '9-Month' Launch Barrier
For an aspiring fintech entrepreneur, the path to market is littered with complexity. To launch a lending product, one must integrate with a bureau for credit analysis, set up E-sign for agreements, implement E-Nach for repayments, and build a Loss Management System (LMS). Traditionally, these services are sourced from 10 different providers, leading to a 6-to-9-month development cycle that drains capital and kills momentum.
"Time is critical for any entrepreneur," Naresh explains. "In nine months, the market moves, competitors arrive, and you lose steam. We built Kudos to crash that time. We provide the full stack—capital, license, and tech infrastructure—so you can go live in seven days."
The Solution: API-Based Infrastructure-as-a-Service
Kudos Finance acts as the "back-end supporter" for the digital lending ecosystem. It provides an agile, customizable platform where fintechs can submit their product programs—whether they are lending to gig workers, patients, or e-commerce merchants—and get instant digital fulfillment.
The 7-Day Fintech Launch
- Concept Alignment: Fintechs bring their target segment (e.g., healthcare financing or revenue-based lending).
- API Integration: Accessing Kudos' stack of 35+ APIs for identity, bureau checks, and statement analysis.
- Digital Underwriting: Building customizable eligibility criteria based on real-time transaction data rather than just 2-year ITRs.
- Paperless Onboarding: Utilizing E-sign and E-KYC to finalize agreements in minutes.
- Instant Disbursement: Capital flows directly into the customer's account via the digital infrastructure.
The Power of the Pivot: ₹10Cr to ₹2100Cr
When Naresh joined Kudos, the company was a traditional NBFC doing business loans in a physical format. Over four years, the company had done less than ₹10 crore in business. Recognizing the shift toward digital consumption, Naresh and Pavitra took the bold decision to pivot to an infrastructure-layer model in 2018. The result was explosive: in the following two years, Kudos processed over **₹2100 crore** in lending volume.
"We saw that traditional margins were shrinking and distribution was the bottleneck," Naresh notes. "By becoming the digital lender of choice for fintech partners, we aligned our success with theirs. We grew from two partners to 35, integrating five to six new platforms every month."
Kudos Finance Scale & Reach
- 30 Lakh Loans: Paperless loans processed through digital channels.
- ₹2100 Crore Volume: Achieved within two years of pivoting to the API model.
- 35+ APIs: Covering the entire lifecycle of customer onboarding and underwriting.
- 7 Core Segments: Including Healthcare, Education, Revenue-Based Finance, and Gig Economy loans.
Lessons in Resilience: The Reputation Moat
One of the most defining moments for Kudos occurred during the 2020 pandemic. When the RBI offered a moratorium to lenders, Kudos decided to offer it to their customers but **declined to take it from their own bank lenders**. It was a tough financial decision, but it built a "reputation moat" that allowed them to raise capital and grow 40% even during nationwide lockdowns.
"Entrepreneurship is a journey of self-discovery," Naresh reflects. "Your company represents your values. By being conservative and honest during the toughest times, we proved to our lenders and partners that we were here for the long term."
Founder's Lesson: Knock on 3 Doors
Naresh believes in the law of persistent action. "If you knock on three doors in a honest and confident manner, at least one will open. You will be lonely and you will be 45 days from running out of funds, but persistence is the only difference between failure and a legacy."
The Future: Standardizing Digital Lending
Naresh’s vision for Kudos is to scale from 35 to **400 fintech partners**, enabling billions of dollars in digital lending. He sees a future where physical branches and paper agreements are relics of the past, replaced by a seamless global API standard. For Naresh, the goal is to ensure that for any entrepreneur with a vision for financial inclusion, the "infrastructure wall" is finally gone.
Kudos Finance is proving that the future of banking isn't in the bricks, but in the bits. By building the digital tracks for the next generation of fintechs, Naresh Vigh and his team are ensuring that the Indian credit gap is finally being bridged—one API call at a time.
About the Guest
Naresh Vigh is the Co-founder of Kudos Finance & Investments. An alumnus of FMS Delhi and DCE, Naresh is a veteran of the banking industry with senior leadership experience at HSBC, Citibank, and Bajaj Finserv. Under his leadership, Kudos has emerged as a premier infrastructure-layer NBFC, revolutionizing API-based lending in India. He is a passionate advocate for digital transformation and a mentor to several fintech startups in the Indian ecosystem.
Kudos Finance & Investments is a digital infrastructure-led NBFC that provides full-stack lending solutions to fintechs and e-commerce players. By offering a comprehensive suite of APIs for onboarding, underwriting, and loan management, Kudos enables businesses to launch and scale their lending products with unprecedented speed and flexibility.