Ecofy founder Rajashree Nambiar left MD & CEO role to build India’s first green-only lender

Rajashree Nambiar was at the peak of her corporate career, having led major financial firms as MD and CEO. That year, she left it all behind. Not for a better-paying job or a board seat, but to create a lender in India with a single purpose: to finance only assets that protect the planet.

People kept asking her why she would make that choice. Her answer, she has said, was hiding in plain sight. India’s climate goals were ambitious, but the financing to achieve them was missing on the ground.

India had committed to 500 GW of renewable energy capacity by 2030, faster adoption of electric vehicles, and wider rooftop solar under flagship government schemes. Yet households and small businesses wanting solar panels or electric two-wheelers faced the same problem. Traditional banks either had no green loan products, lacked expertise in underwriting green assets, or avoided small-ticket loans.

The Reserve Bank of India estimated that India would need Rs 85.6 trillion in climate-aligned investment by 2030. The company’s mandate was strict: loans only for green assets. That meant no personal loans, no home loans, and no conventional vehicle finance. Ecofy focused only on electric vehicles, rooftop solar, energy-efficient equipment, and sustainability-linked credit for small businesses.

The decision to limit Ecofy to green loans was unusual for the Indian lending market. Rajashree believed the focus would help attract international impact investors and build deep expertise in a segment no other Indian lender had prioritized.

Ecofy disbursed its first loan in December 2022. Three years later, the numbers show the model is scaling. The company now serves over 1,30,000 customers across 26 Indian states and more than 500 cities. Its assets under management have crossed Rs 1,400 crore, as reported by The Better India.