Paul DiLeo, Managing Partner at Grassroots Capital, plays a role in attracting private capital to the company, creating investment vehicles to address market gaps and raising funding to support new initiatives.  Mr. DiLeo launched and now co-manages the Global Microfinance Equity Fund and the Gray Ghost Microfinance Fund, which is a private, for-profit microfinance fund originally established to demonstrate the viability of microfinance investment.  He obtained his bachelor’s degree from the University of Massachusetts (US), has a master’s degree from Boston University (US) and completed studies in business accounting and finance at New York University (US). Continue Reading »

Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), a microfinance institution (MFI) located in India, has raised INR 45.8 crore, the equivalent of over USD 10 million, in a second round of funding. Continue Reading »

SKS Microfinance Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in India, is expected to file for an initial public offering (IPO) in the next three to four weeks, according to three sources that news provider, Reuters, does not name. Continue Reading »

Standard Chartered, an international commercial bank headquartered in London, has provided an IDR 15 billion loan, the equivalent of over USD 1.6 million, to Mitra Bisnis Keluarga Ventura (MBK), a microfinance institution (MFI) located in Indonesia. Continue Reading »

Mr. Crawford is Chief Executive Officer of MicroVest Capital Management, responsible for the development, management and growth of MicroVest, including developing and implementing business development strategies and supervising investment deals. He led the launch of MicroVest I, LP, a commercial private equity vehicle focused on microfinance in North America. He has over 20 years of experience with microfinance institutions (MFIs) and capital markets and has worked in Latin America, Africa and Asia. 

Previously, Mr. Crawford worked for the Latin American Financial Markets Division at the International Finance Corporation (IFC), created and ran Seed Capital Development Fund and was the Assistant Project Director for Africa Venture Capital Project. Mr. Crawford received his bank training at Chase Manhattan Bank in the mid 1980’s after working in Africa for the Red Cross and the US State Department. He graduated from Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies (SAIS) (US) in 1983 and Bates College (US) in 1980. Continue Reading »

The Asian Development Bank (ADB), a multilateral development bank, will provide a USD 50 million loan to the state-owned Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) for lending to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and a partial credit guarantee of up to USD 250 million for ADB’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) Development Project, which will allow public sector commercial banks to obtain medium- to long-term funds to on-lend to existing MSME clients in India. Continue Reading »

The Southern Sudan Microfinance Development Facility (SSMDF), a microfinance investment facility supported by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, and the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry of the Government of Southern Sudan, will provide funding of SDG 214,290, the equivalent of USD 92,565, to the Rural Finance Initiative (RUFI), a microfinance institution (MFI) located in Southern Sudan, over a period of three years. Continue Reading »

Financiera Independencia, a Mexican microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on urban lending to individuals, has closed an MXP 530 million (USD 41 million) deal to acquire Financiera Finsol, a Mexican MFI that focuses on group lending in rural areas, and three related entities: Finsol Vida, an insurance broker; Finsol, a service company; and Instituto Finsol Brazil, an MFI in Brazil. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, has announced that it will make an equity investment of XOF 574.6 million, the equivalent of over USD 1.2 million, in MicroCred Senegal, a microfinance institution (MFI) located in Senegal that was founded by the MicroCred Group, an investment company based in France that is part of the PlaNet Finance Group. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, and KfW Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a state-owned development bank based in Germany, have announced that they will establish microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Zambia and Senegal in 2010. Continue Reading »

Standard Chartered has provided its first microfinance loan in the Philippines to CARD Bank, a microfinance institution (MFI) with over 205,097 active borrowers and a gross loan portfolio of USD 20.1 million as of year-end 2008. Continue Reading »

Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) have reached an agreement on the sources of funding for the EUR 100 million (USD 139 million) ‘European Progress Microfinance Facility’. Continue Reading »

Global Partnerships, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that supports microfinance institutions (MFIs) in Latin America, has announced its expansion to Mexico through a USD 500,000 loan made to Fundación Realidad (FRAC), a nonprofit MFI located in Mexico. Continue Reading »

The J.P. Morgan Chase Foundation, the charitable arm of the U.S.-based financial services company, has provided a USD 3 million grant to Bankers Without Borders (BwB), a volunteer program of the Grameen Foundation based in the U.S. that supports microfinance and technology initiatives related to finance in low-income countries. Continue Reading »

Spandana Sphoorty Innovative Financial Services Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Hyderabad, India, has raised funds by placing INR 25 crore, the equivalent of over USD 5.3 million, worth of commercial paper with an unnamed mutual fund. Continue Reading »

The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the investment arm of the World Bank, has made a USD 100 million equity investment in Byblos Bank, a commercial bank based in Lebanon, to provide finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and expand operations in the Middle East and Africa [1,2,3]. Continue Reading »

Sequoia Capital, a venture capital fund that commits a portion of its portfolio on microfinance, has purchased a 10 percent stake in Equitas, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in India [1,2,3]. Continue Reading »

The US government has facilitated a USD 2 million transfer in reserves from City National Bank of New Jersey (CNB) to 34 branches of Fonkoze, a Haitian microfinance institution (MFI) that had been running low on cash since the January 12 earthquake. Continue Reading »