UpTik Strengthens Strategic Advisory Board with Appointment of Mr. Rajaram and Mr. Bala Swaminathan
New Delhi, September 8, 2026: UpTik, India’s fastest-growing structured alternative investment platform, today announced the appointment of Mr. Rajaram and Mr. Bala Swaminathan to its Strategic Advisory Board. The appointments bring decades of global banking, legal and institutional finance leadership to the company as it scales its invoice discounting and alternative credit operations across India.
The appointments come at an important stage in UpTik’s growth journey, reinforcing the company’s commitment to strong governance, prudent risk oversight and global best practices as it works to bridge India’s MSME credit gap and expand access to structured, real-economy-backed alternative investment opportunities.
Mr. Rajaram, Chairman of K&L Gates Straits Law Firm, brings deep expertise in cross-border structured finance, regulatory compliance and global capital markets. He previously chaired the audit committee of a Swiss private bank and was a Board Member and Stakeholder at Monument Bank, UK. His experience spanning international banking regulation and private wealth management is expected to strengthen UpTik’s governance and compliance framework as the company broadens its investor base.
Mr. Bala Swaminathan, CEO of Scube, brings decades of experience across banking operations, treasury and institutional finance in the Asia-Pacific region. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer at ICICI Bank, President of Westpac Bank in Australia, and Head of Standard Chartered Bank in Singapore. His extensive leadership across some of the region’s largest financial institutions is expected to support UpTik’s efforts to build institutional-grade credit and risk management frameworks.
Commenting on the appointments, Mr. Vinod Varma, Founder of UpTik, said, “Mr. Rajaram and Mr. Bala Swaminathan bring an extraordinary depth of global banking, legal and institutional experience to UpTik. As we scale our lending operations and deepen our institutional partnerships, their guidance will be invaluable in strengthening our governance, risk management and compliance framework. This is an important step in our journey to build a trusted, transparent and responsible alternative credit platform for India’s MSMEs.”
With these additions, UpTik’s Strategic Advisory Board now draws on leadership experience from institutions including ICICI Bank, Westpac, Standard Chartered, Citibank and K&L Gates, underscoring the company’s focus on combining technology-led credit innovation with world-class governance as it continues to scale across India’s alternative credit market.
UpTik, operated by Growwcap Fintech Pvt. Ltd., is India’s fastest-growing structured alternative investment platform, enabling MSMEs and vendors to unlock working capital through invoice discounting against verified invoices raised on large corporate buyers. Founded in 2025 by Vinod Varma Ainampudi and Phani Chowdary Kilari and headquartered in Hyderabad, UpTik connects businesses seeking working capital with investors through an AI-powered credit approval engine and blockchain-based invoice discounting that strengthen auditability, transparency and repayment processes.
The company has facilitated more than ₹60 crore in total deployed capital, delivering 65% average month-on-month growth and a 35x scale-up in volume over the past year. UpTik is ISO 9001:2015 and ISO 31001:2018 certified, reflecting its focus on process excellence, risk governance and investor protection.
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