Anup Kumar Singh :: Promoter & Managing Director

Mr. Anup Kumar Singh is one of the pioneers in India’s microfinance sector with more than 23 Anup Singhyears of experience to his credit. He is presently serving as the Managing Director on the Board of the company. Mr. Anup promoted Sonata Finance in 2006 to make microfinance self-sustainable and economically viable. As Managing Director of Sonata, he sets the innovative business model and strategies, evaluates opportunities and risks, guides its operations and monitors its overall working to fulfil its mission and vision. Under his supervision and mentoring, Sonata has excellently executed its goals and created a strong, sustainable and value creating business. It has been an achievement that the company, under the guidance of Mr. Singh have succeeded in improving the earning capacity of thousands of households.

Mr. Singh through his able leadership qualities and mentorship has established Sonata as a leading micro-finance institution in Uttar Pradesh.His aim is to guideSonata becoming a one stop solutionto all the financial needs of customer and in the process transform its relationship with millions of customers as a true financial counsellor.

Before starting Sonata, Mr. Anup underwent training with Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. He holds a Master’s degree in Economics & Sociology, a Postgraduate Diploma in Rural Development and Management, and a MBA in Finance.

Mr. Pradip Kumar Saha :: Independent Director

Mr. Pradip Kumar Saha, was the former Chief General Manager of Small Industries Anup SinghDevelopment Bank of India (SIDBI) and has more than 37 years of experience in Development banking. He started his banking career with IDBI and then with SIDBI till his retirement in December 2013. During his long career in IDBI and SIDBI, he discharged diverse responsibilities in the areas of Project Finance, Asset Recovery, Human Resources Management, MSME credit and Micro Finance etc. At the time of his retirement, he was heading SIDBI Foundation for Micro Credit (SFMC) and Promotion and Development Department of the Bank.

As a Development Banker, he was involved in the formulation of various Development programmes and policy level intervention initiated by SIDBI and had been a member of various Committees of the Bank at the highest level. He has attended various Management Development Programmes organized by reputed institutions like Harvard Business School, (USA), Asian Institute of Management, Manila and Cranfield School of Management (UK) and Boulders Microfinance Programme in Italy. He had represented SIDBI in various industry forums and seminars/meetings and was instrumental in the design and implementation of CDR packages for MFIs. He was part of Indian SME delegation to USA in the year 1999 and also led a MSME delegation to the World Expo in Hongkong in the year 2008. In the past he served as a Director in 4 MFIs and at Present, he serves as a Director on the Boards of 2 Companies viz. Bandhan Bank Ltd and Fusion Microfinance (P) Ltd. He also represents Credit Guarantee Trust for Micro & Small Enterprises (CGTMSE) in the Eastern and North Eastern Region of the country.

Mr. Anal Kumar Jain :: Independent Director

Mr. Anal Kumar Jain has over 40 years experience in top management positions Anup Singh in major international and Indian IT Companies including over 6 years experience in the field of Microfinance. Among his key accomplishments are - leading Wipro Infotech's marketing to IT Industry's leading status, building and leading IBM's business in India after their re-entry into the country, and starting and leading Sun Microsystems business in India. He started his career in early 1970s with IBM India, Anal has been a part of the India IT story, steering companies through unchartered waters and with fabulous success. Anal was Vice President - Marketing with ORG Systems, Vice President - Sales & Marketing with Wipro InfoTech, Head - Domestic Businesses of IBM India, President - South Asia of Sun Microsystems India, Chairman & CEO of Linc Software Systems, CEO of Birlasoft Ltd, Managing Director - South Asia of Network Appliance India.

Mr. Anal Kumar Jain has been Advisor to Sa-Dhan, the National Microfinance Industry Association. He was formerly Co-Founder and Managing Director of MicroVentures India, a Private Equity fund focused on the Indian Microfinance industry. He serves on the Boards of a number of Microfinance Institutions. Mr. Anal Jain is involved with many activities around entrepreneurship. He is involved with mentoring several IT companies through Nasscom, TiE, Bodhi Technologies, Linc Software Systems. He has completed M.S. (Electrical Engg) and Research Fellowship from Brooklyn Poly, New York City, USA and B.Tech. (Electrical Engg) from IIT Kharagpur, and has been a merit scholar each year at IIT. He was General Secretary of the Electrical Engg. Society, amongst other positions held.

Mr. Sethuraman Ganesh :: Independent Director

Shri Sethuraman Ganesh is a former Principal Chief General Manager of Reserve Bank of India, Anup Singhwith 3 decades’ Pan India experience, including 10 years at senior management level. Currently, he also holds the position of Independent Director on the Board of Indel Money Limited, an NBFC based at  Kochi, and has served as a Non-Executive Director on the board of BSS Microfinance Pvt. Ltd. at Bengaluru. In addition, he is a Member of the Advisory Board of the Infimind Institute of Skill Development LLP, Bengaluru. 

Shri Ganesh’s work experience spans NBFC board directorship, RBI Directorship on the Boards of two public sector banks (UCO Bank and Oriental Bank of Commerce), bank supervision, banking ombudsmanship, RBI regional directorship, and Management and Delivery of Training as Principal of the Reserve Bank Staff College at Chennai and Faculty Member at the Bankers Training College at Mumbai. Shri Ganesh holds a Master’s Degree in English from Bangalore University and is a Certificated Associate of the Indian Institute of Bankers (CAIIB). He is a certified trainer in Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP) and has an academic orientation and deep interest in Training, Learning, and Development.

Ms. Remika Agarwal :: Nominee Director

Ms. Remika Agarwal is an accomplished finance professional with Anup Singhover 16 years of financial market experience having worked across NBFCs, MFIs, HFCs, Banks, FinTech and other sectors. During her career span, she has worked with founders and CXOs of companies across sectors, conducted detailed due diligence on companies, assessed business risks and recommended mitigants and strategies.

She has a working experience for over a decade of managing complex structures and models for transactions in the Microfinance ratings and securitization space in the rating industry. She is currently designated as a Country Head- India for Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC at Bengaluru, Karnataka where she has led the launch of several transactions including deal sourcing, diligence, monitoring and execution and is also a part of the Investment Committee for the Credit fund.

She is a qualified risk professional and is a FRM (GARP) and PRM (PRMIA) charter holder. She has completed her Master of Business Administration in Finance from Management Development Institute, Gurgaon (2006) and her Bachelor of Science in Economics from St. Xaviers' College, Kolkata (2004).

Mr. Ranganathan Varadarajan Dillip Kumar :: Nominee Director

Mr. Dilip has been with Sidbi Venture Capital Limited since its Anup Singh inception in 1999 and was part of the core team which had set up SIDBI Ventures, SIDBI Trustee Company and National Venture Fund for Software & IT Industry. He represents SVCL on the Boards of some portfolio companies, where he has played an active role in building up systems and processes, strengthening financial management and corporate governance. Prior to joining SVCL in 1999, Dilip was with SIDBI for nearly 8 years with experience in credit appraisal, accounts and audit functions. He is a Post Graduate in Commerce and Economics, AICWA, CS (Inter), PGDBA and CAIIB.

Mr. Shreekanta Das :: Nominee Director

Mr. Shreekanta Das has about 18 years of experience in the field of Anup SinghMicrofinance and Promotional & Developmental activities. He has also worked in different positions & places including State Director for Poorest State Inclusive Growth Programme (PSIG) of SIDBI in the State of Odisha, DGM-Branch-in-Charge of Tirupur Branch Office of SIDBI.

He started his career working in Micro Finance Dept of the Bank’s Head Office at Lucknow. His broad areas of experience include appraisal of loan proposals, Capacity Assessment Rating and Capacity Building of NGO/MFIs. Special assignment for expansion of Micro Finance in the underserved States/Regions of the country, Contribution in the policy level initiatives, Portfolio Risk Fund of Govt of India to expand micro finance in the country, Portfolio Review of micro finance institutions (MFI), Co-ordination with Board Division, MFI networking bodies Govt correspondence etc. Faculty Support: In the field of micro finance, promotion and financing of MSMEs in BIRD, Lucknow etc.

He is currently designated as the Deputy General Manager, SIDBI, Lucknow RO inter alia looking after MSME lending operations of branches and Promotional and Developmental interventions in UP and Bihar. Member of the Credit Committees of the Bank.

Mr. Saurabh Kumar Johri :: Nominee Director

Saurabh is the Executive Director (ED) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Anup Singhat Caspian Equity. Caspian Equity manages multiple Equity Funds with focus on Financial Inclusion, Small Medium Enterprises, Food & Agriculture and Renewable Energy with focus on early and growth stage companies. Saurabh represents funds interests on the boards of Sonata Microfinance, India and M-Kopa, UK/Kenya.

Prior to current role, Saurabh was group CFO at Caspian, responsible for Fund Raising, Finance & Accounting, Financial control and risk. He was instrumental in increasing funding through expansion of relationships and diversifying the types of instruments. During his tenure Saurabh completed corporate restructuring through NCLT, transition from Indian GAAP to IFRS based IndAS GAAP and exits of portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Caspian, Saurabh worked for 7.5 years with Jana Small Finance bank in areas of Equity raise, Financial Planning, Treasury mid-office and corporate restructuring towards formation of small finance bank. At Jana, multiple equity raises won ‘Financial Services Company of the Year’ at VC Circle Awards in March 2016 and work in Financial Planning resulted in ‘Kaplan and Norton Hall of Fame’ award for Balanced Scorecard implementation. Prior to Jana, Saurabh was with Infosys Technologies Limited for 12.5 years working in a variety of roles in corporate strategy, program management and technology execution.

Saurabh has Bachelor’s in Technology from Institute of Technology, Varanasi, India (1998) and Master in Business Administration from Fisher College of Business, Ohio State University, USA (2006).