Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited was incorporated as a public limited company with the name 'Spandana Sphoorty Innovative Financial Services Limited ('SSIFSL') on March 10, 2003 at Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India. A certificate of commencement of business was issued to SSIFSL on November 11, 2003 by the Registrar of Companies, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana at Hyderabad . On October 16, 2004, the Reserve Bank of India ('RBI') granted a certificate of registration to the Company as a non-deposit accepting nonbanking financial company ('NBFC'). Subsequently, pursuant to a special resolution dated November 26, 2007 passed by the Shareholders, the name of the Company was changed to Spandana Sphoorty Financial Limited. Pursuant to a letter dated December 26, 2007, the RBI granted its no objection to the change of name of the Company to Spandana Sphoorty on January 3, 2008. The Company was granted NBFC - Microfinance Institution ('NBFC-MFI') status by the RBI with effect from April 13, 2015 The Company is a leading, rural focused NBFC-MFI with a geographically diversified presence in India. It offers income generation loans under the joint liability group model, predominantly to women from low-income households in Rural Areas. As of March 31, 2019, the company is the fourth largest NBFC-MFI and the sixth largest amongst NBFC-MFIs and SFBs in India, in terms of AUM update.The Company has developed an in-depth understanding of the borrowing requirements of the low-income client segment. This business model involves regular client meeting processes through their employees, who maintain contact with clients across the districts that it covers. Through their loan products and client-centric approach, the company endeavours to strengthen the socio-economic well-being of low-income households by providing financing on a sustainable basis in order to improve livelihoods, establish identity and enhance self-esteem.Post exit from CDR in March 2017, the company increased its lender base, diversified its borrowings to new banks and NBFCs and also issued NCDs in the capital markets. As a result, during Fiscal 2018, with increasing flow of capital, the company expanded its operations and were able to effectively utilize its existing branch network and employees (that were earlier underutilized due to lack of capital). Prior to their exit from CDR in 2017, the company had limited access to capital, due to which the company was able to offer loans in lower ticket sizes than the demand from their clients. According to ICRA Research, the company had the lowest portfolio per branch amongst peer comparison of major NBFC-MFIs and SFBs, as of March 31, 2017. Post exit from CDR, the company was able to optimize the ticket sizes and also acquire new clients at existing and new branches. This helped the company to grow the Gross AUM in Fiscal 2018 at one of the highest rates (143.8%) among large NBFC-MFIs in India.