IPO-bound Hero FinCorp banks on AI strategies for value creation
File photo: Abhimanyu Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero FinCorp
MUMBAI: IPO-bound Hero FinCorp, one of the leading NBFCs in India, is betting on ‘AI strategies’ for growth in the coming years. In addition to the usage of artificial intelligence (AI) in its operations, its two other focus areas are Aspiring India, and Asset inclusion as the future growth areas, Abhimanyu Munjal, MD & CEO, Hero FinCorp said.The company started the process of going public through the IPO route, eyeing to mobilise about Rs 3,700 crore. Of the total offer, Rs 2,100 crore is planned to come from fresh issue of shares, and the balance from the offer for sale (OFS), in which some of the existing shareholders are offloading their holding through the IPO.The company received the regulatory nod from Sebi about a year ago. It has time till Sept 2026 to launch the offer.According to Munjal, Aspiring India, one of its focus areas, are the Indian households with an annual income of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 10 lakh. “This economic engine is expected to reach 181 million by 2030 as per industry estimates, driving consumption, entrepreneurship, and mobility. Given the company’s timely investments in building a pan-India distribution, servicing and collection capability, comprising of a healthy pool of first-time credit borrowers, we are confident on partnering the ambitious, upwardly mobile Indians.”Talking about the use of AI, he said it has deployed the technology to build a proprietary real-time predictive risk intelligence system, embedding several distinct risk and collection models to track portfolio health dynamically. “At the same time, we have used AI to supercharge the customer service function, with efficient handling of customer queries, diverse vernacular-language support, digital collections, and real-time monitoring of the portfolio.” He said that the company’s tech and AI-led lending architecture were praised by some of the global leaders from the tech industry.Munjal also said that Hero FinCopr’s lending portfolio has come a long way since the initial days when it financed only two-wheelers. Over the years, it has diversified its loan portfolio into retail and MSMEs, giving it ample flexibility to steer towards diverse asset and customer categories, in case market conditions demand such a move.
