Chetan Rao

Chetan Rao is Head of Treasury and a member of the senior leadership team at Kaleidofin, a fintech platform advancing financial inclusion for informal-sector households, with a focus on women entrepreneurs, nano enterprises, and small and marginal farmers. Its technology and risk infrastructure supports financial institutions across India and East Africa. kaleidofin’s credit scoring model called ki score and its risk infrastructure is being used by 65+ financial institutions in India and East Africa and has been used to sanction over 16 million loans aggregating to over USD 13 billion in new funding to its informal sector customers

With nearly two decades of experience across credit assessment, banking, investment banking and structured finance, Chetan specialises in enabling underserved businesses to access institutional finance. His experience spans developing tailored credit assessment frameworks for microfinance institutions and SMEs to structuring funding through traditional banking channels and capital markets.

At Kaleidofin, he works at the intersection of data-driven underwriting and institutional finance, including advancing bank adoption of ki score, a credit assessment solution that has supported the underwriting of customers engaged in nano, small and medium businesses. His work focuses on how better data and appropriate financing structures can strengthen lender and investor confidence in MSMEs and expand their access to capital. He has also contributed to innovative, gender-focused financing supporting women’s livelihoods and enterprise development.