Kapil Patil is the Founder and Director of Vitto – Microfinance.AI (https://www.vitto.money/) – a pre-seed funded FinTech platform that is on a mission to empower millions of users who prefer communication through local-language in regional geographies. It primarily supports users to avail micro-financial services by means of hassle-free digital technology. Kapil, along with the co-founder, Swati Sinha, founded Vitto in 2020, intending to build a robust technology-oriented platform that has the potential to revolutionize the entire micro-lending space for the local-language customers coming from Bharat who struggle to access micro-financial services on account of technological and linguistic barriers.
After graduating from London School of Economics, Kapil brought on board his vast knowledge base of financial services, development finance, and public policy. He worked across the multidisciplinary domains of consulting, banking, and BFSI sector, promoting technology and increased access to financial services for rural and SME spheres. He is a recipient of the Sayajirao Gaekwad FinTech Fellowship by the Bank of Baroda. He pursued Public Policy from the London School of Economics with a full scholarship, post his MBA from the Indian Institute of Forest Management.
Having roots in the Nandurbar district of Maharashtra, Kapil belongs to a farmer family. He is a first-generation entrepreneur and a scholastic achievement in academia. Based Gurugram, Kapil often likes travelling to adventurous off beat places and has a passion for trekking. He spends his spare time, reading and expanding his knowledge base on Economics, Law and History.
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kapilpatil89/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/kapilpatil89
Q. How has been your journey from IIFM to this role?
A. I would say the journey was full of adventures and exploring uncharted territories. Majority of my time I was so immersed in the experience of the present, that I had no idea about what would happen in the next 6-12 months! Eventually, in the role I took after placements, I ensured that I give my 100 percent contribution. Post-IIFM, I joined the Odisha State Livelihood project as a young professional. As an adventure seeker, the new state, new people, and new culture fascinated me. I wanted to explore this set-up and adapt very fast. I have such fond memories of staying and working in Odisha, I even picked up the Odia language in the very first few months! (I have no idea how that happened!). Working in remote districts, meeting the rural indigenous people (Yes. Trekked hills to visit the Tumba communities who belonged to the Particularly Vulnerable Tribal Group – PVTG) to be a part of the 2014 General election management. These initial roles helped me significantly, and transformed me to become a more open and approachable person to all external stakeholders.
After that, I took up a role with a non-profit organization. It was a Monitoring and Research role based in Uttar Pradesh. Eventually, a sudden realization led to me quitting my job and starting my own company. I started an AgriTech startup with sheer passion to build something real and based on my experimental learnings. That startup didn’t take off but left with lifelong learning. I literally spent one year in single trolly bags and traveled across India for work, meeting people, and convincing investors/partners. It was exhausting and exhilarating at the same time! After this, I took up a role that gave me the opportunity of leading a Public Sector Bank – Being a FinTech Fellow. Here I worked with senior leadership on various Agri-FinTech work. After this I was associated with a leading organization based out of Delhi to set-up a finance company for rural and SME finance. These were my stepping stones forming my inclination toward creating a financial a tool that will create a difference.
My initial career journey felt limited and unfinished. After working in Delhi for a while I wanted to pursue further academic spaces specifically in Public Policy/Economics . Then I got a full scholarship for studying at the London School of Economics. This was a pleasant surprise for me, and post-LSE, there was no looking back for me.
As I joined LSE, I needed to work on unfinished jobs. I along with my long-time friend (Swati – we met during Odisha as part of campus placement) started working on a FinTech start-up which has now taken shape as Vitto – Microfinance.AI )
Q. What were some of the key milestones/learning in this journey that you would like to share with us?
A. When I think of the last 10 years, it is divided into three parts.
First, a fresh graduate from IIFM with a passion to make a significant change in society. Working for backward areas, community, government, and non-profit sectors. This helped me to become more outspoken, Improved my public speaking/relationship-building skills and my communication skills.
The second part, where I worked with market-led institutions for driving business, and launching products/processes to generate revenue/business. This phase helped me with systematic growth and I learnt the importance of building functional institutions and be a part of decision-making spheres.
The third phase would be LSE and entrepreneurial journey, this part was a sheer roller coaster and I played the game all-in.
Q. What is the most satisfying part of your current role?
A. The most satisfying part of my role is that the vision and mission of the company are finally helping change lives. My concept with Vitto is progressing and being implemented to really help a large number of people and solve various accessibility barriers. Building and nurturing the team is truly exciting. It’s been close to 3 years but it has passed in a jiffy!
Q. Has your learning at IIFM helped in shaping how you approach your professional roles?
A. Definitely, IIFM helped me see a wider perspective and gave me the opportunity to connect with so many people. It played a very active role in various committees and events that helped me leave behind my introverted personality.
Q. Who (or what) are the biggest influences or drivers in your careers? What would be your advice to freshers and IIFM graduates who are looking to choose similar sectors/roles?
A. Honestly, Influences change over time as does your perspectives, but throughout life Entrepreneurs and associates have really influenced me.
Vijay Shekhar Sharma (Paytm), Jack Ma (Alibaba) & Subroto Bagchi (Mind Tree). On the other side I really admire the work of Vineet Rai who is an IIFM Alumni thanks to IIFM I’ve gotten ample opportunities to interact with him as well.
My advice to freshers would be to trust your instinct. Whatever you do should make you feel happy. Never surrender your ambitions and dreams even if some people try to bring you down. The world is very competitive and you might feel like giving up but always remember you started your journey for a reason and no matter what happens, nobody can stop you from reaching your goals. Be confident in whatever you do.
Q. What are your favorite memories during your IIFM days?
A. – Staying on campus with all the batchmates gives a great bond and creates many memories outside the class!
– Night out in grasslands around IIFM Campus & the unique style of celebrating Birthdays in the campus!
– Organizing student-led events and putting all hard work along with other classmates to make it a success.
– Amazing field visits in both years. We went across central India and another one covering North India. Both were equally enjoyable.
Q. In hindsight, what was the biggest contribution (courses, faculty, library, friends, alumni.. Anything else!!) or takeaway from IIFM that you think played a critical role in shaping you as an individual or professional?
A. On the faculty side, I enjoyed the classes of Ujjal Sarma and Manmohan Yadav. They helped me to question my abilities.
On the Alumni front, I was privileged to connect with many alumni who helped me go further in difficult times- Santosh Kumar Singh, Ankur Singhal, Radhika Agashe, Shreekaant Kumar, Anurag Dwivedi, and the list is long 🙂
Q. The best buddies/seniors/faculty at IIFM? Some memorable tidbits that you like to share?
A. On campus, some of my friends who were super fun were- Kunal Kapse, Abhishek Doodwal, Paritosh, Shivanshu, and Sanjay from PFM 2013. We had some memorable nights at Kerva Dam!! We also got to know that Leopards used to pass through the Corridors (Scary!). Encountered snakes while on campus and ofcourse you always find crazy folks in the batch who play with them!
Q. What is your typical day at the office?
A. Time Management is absolutely essential. I am an early riser and start my day with a workout at 6:30/7, Breakfast and some reading which gets finished by 9:30. Then I leave for the office by 10 am, where my first half is dedicated to internal work, and the Second half for calls and discussions. Evening team call at 5:30 am and leaving by 7 pm.
Q. And how about weekends, Hobbies, Family, and anything else you want to add
A. The work that I do is ever demanding and most Saturdays I need to be engaged in some way. I have made good Professional/Personal Friends (Many of them IIFM’ites) and I connect with them over weekends to get various inputs. I stay in Gurgaon and sometimes my parents visit and stay with me. I enjoy reading in my free time.
Q. Favorite Books, movies, authors
A. There are many but let me share three-
– Why Nation Fail by Daron Acemoglu and James A. Robinson
– The High-Performance Entrepreneur by Subroto Bagchi
– All Books by Fali S Nariman on Legal Institutions
Q. IIFM is driven by alumni’s passion and commitment toward its goal. How would you like to contribute to IIFM or IIFM alumni, and students? Your engagement with IIFM Placement or OT/SI?
A. I certainly believe in working with institutions that helped us in so many ways. We are hiring Interns from the last two batches and based on their performance offering them full-time roles as well. As we grow, we look forward to future engagements. I am certainly happy to support IIFM students/alumni with my limited knowledge. Please do reach out to me.
I’m more active on Twitter (https://twitter.com/kapilpatil89) and
LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/in/kapilpatil89/)
which would be the platform to connect.
Q. What do you think is different at IIFM now vs when you studied there? What do you think is a positive change and what is not?
A. While i was at IIFM, education delivery, market skillset, and how people got influenced changed due to technology.
IIFM has niche expertise in Climate and Impact space which is getting much traction and needs to be capitalized for sure. An effective leadership at the top with a vision to lead our institution with a commitment to make it world-class is the need of the hour.
Q. Any suggestions on who you want to get profiled/interviewed here?
A. I believe many of my friends are already covered so few more will be great addition to this Sunday series-
Shivanshu Sharma (2013)
Arjun Subramaniam (2013)
Arun Sree Kumar (2012)
Sumit Banerjee (2012)