Switzerland’s BlueOrchard Finance recently disbursed an equity placement of undisclosed size from the InsuResilience Investment Fund (IIF), a Luxembourg-domiciled public-private partnership, for IIF to buy a minority stake in Cambodia’s Forte Insurance Group. BlueOrchard’s investment director for the continent, Thibaud Ponchon, expressed confidence that the placement will “drive the penetration of
Category: Investment Funds
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aavishkaar India Fund VI Nets $130m for MSMEs Addressing Climate Change, Agtech, Fintech – Anchored by Public Funding from Domestic, European Sources
Aavishkaar Capital, a subsidiary of India’s Aavishkaar Group, recently completed the first close of its Aavishkaar India Fund VI with commitments totaling INR 10 billion (USD 130 million) to invest mainly in micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). In particular, Sushma Kaushik, a partner at Aavishkaar Capital, said that the fund aims to
SPECIAL REPORT: Pratibha Singh of Agents for Impact, Arunkumar Padmanabhan of Svasti Discuss the AFISAR Rating, Microfinance, Impact and Much More!
This is part of a series of features sponsored by Agents for Impact (AFI), a German impact investing firm whose products include the AFI Sustainability Alignment Rating (AFISAR©) tool. AFISAR© is a trust mark – in microfinance and other forms of social business – signifying a commitment to positive and enduring change for people and the planet, based on the UN Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) framework.
AFISAR© helps MFIs leverage the market’s growing focus on sustainability performance to raise capital from international investors and, particularly, impact investors. The rating helps investors and social businesses understand their strengths and weaknesses and devise effective strategies to minimize negative impact and maximize positive impact to the benefit of the organization – its employees, clients and other stakeholders – as well as the environment.
The conversation below outlines the AFISAR© rating process carried out in the “direct partnership” format by a leading MFI like Svasti Microfinance. Direct partnership offers a continuous and immersive experience to facilitate sustainable transitions. The active dialogue and engagement embedded in the AFISAR© process enable the MFI as well as asset managers to embark on a journey that leads to long-term sustainable development. AFI highly values long-term partnerships with organizations sharing our mission of achieving the UN SDGs. We take this so seriously that a rating above the sustainability threshold is required for the disbursement funds.
To date, AFI has used AFISAR© to rate 35+ microfinance and SME finance institutions in Asia, East Africa and Eastern Europe, helping the institutions demonstrate their SDG competency and alignment.
Pratibha Singh (pictured): How did you become interested in microfinance?
Arunkumar Padmanabhan: I was a lawyer and had worked for some years with ICICI Bank. Based on that experience, I wanted to set up a commercial business in the social impact space. We started in the slums of Mumbai, and now we have expanded to eight states in India with 220,000 borrowers across 120 branches.
PS: What makes the Svasti model unique?
AP: The key to success in this field is based on three aspects: people, process and technology. Our vision follows the “people-first” approach. Technology and innovation are driving forces as well, and we have built all of our systems from the ground up. That gives us a significant competitive advantage. Meanwhile, we have focussed on client protection and social impact from a very early stage in our development. With AFISAR©, we have become one of the few companies that is measuring its performance based on the SDGs. Constantly trying to improve in impact-driven areas is of great strategic importance.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Kinara Capital Raises $50m in Equity from Nuveen, ASN Microkredietfonds to Boost Lending to MSMEs in India
India’s Kinara Capital recently raised INR 3.8 billion (USD 50 million) in equity from the Global Impact Fund of US-based Nuveen, which led the investment round, and ASN Microkredietfonds, which is advised by the Netherlands’ Triple Jump, to boost Kinara’s lending to micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in India. According to Kinara Founder and CEO Hardika Shah
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Launches GEFF Turkey With $56m Loan to TSKB for On-lending to Reduce, Adjust to Climate Impacts
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), a UK-based multilateral development finance institution, is “supporting Turkey’s transition to an environmentally sustainable, low-carbon and climate-resilient economy” through the Green Economy Financial Facility (GEFF) Turkey. The loan package comprises funds from EBRD’s own resources as well as concessional financing from the Clean Technology Fund,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Khazna of Egypt Raises $38m in Series A Round Led by Quona, 3 More Fintechs Join in Netting Investments from Nclude Fund
Nclude Fund, which was launched in 2022 primarily to focus on financial technology (fintech) in Egypt, has invested unspecified amounts of funding in four startups: (1) Khazna, a financial services app targeting the underbanked; (2) Lucky, an app offering consumer loans and loyalty rewards; (3) Mozare3, which helps small-scale farmers and food processors find funding; and (4) Paymob, an online payment platform that operates in the Middle East and Africa. Khazna also raised funding from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Women’s World Banking Raises $28m for WWB Capital Partners II, Seeking to Boost Microfinance for Women
The US-based NGO Women’s World Banking (WWB) recently raised USD 28 million for the second and final close of WWB Capital Partners II, bringing its total volume to USD 103 million. The goal of the fund is to “close the gender gap in financial inclusion while demonstrating the business case for gender lens investing by achieving attractive returns for its investors.” Among the features of the fund are: (1) a blended finance structure that stratifies certain risks into separate tiers; and (2) a grant-funded technical assistance facility for performing gender analyses to help portfolio companies recruit and retain more female clients and employees. The
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Banque Misr Leads $85m Investment to Launch Global Ventures’ Nclude Fund for Financial Inclusion via Fintech in Egypt
Global Ventures, a UAE-based venture capital firm that invests primarily in the Middle East and Africa, recently founded Nclude, an investment fund specializing in financial technology (fintech), with the aim of boosting financial inclusion, primarily in Egypt. Part of the purpose of Nclude is to
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Impact Asset Management Loans $11m from Dual Return Microfinance Funds to MFIs in East Timor, Ecuador, Kosovo, Nicaragua
Impact Asset Management (I-AM), a member of the Austria-based C-Quadrat Investment Group, recently disbursed loans from Vision Microfinance and Vision Microfinance Local Currency, the two sub-funds of the Dual Return Fund family, that total the equivalent of
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Catalyst Fund to Incubate 6 “Inclusive” Fintechs Serving Africa, Latin America
Catalyst Fund, an initiative of the US-based firm BFA (Bankable Frontier Associates) Global, recently announced the tenth cohort of financial technology (fintech) companies that it will support in their efforts to serve more “underserved and climate-vulnerable communities in emerging markets.” Four of the companies are based in
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Investing $2.5m in Rentek of Colombia to Help MSMEs Recover from COVID-19 Downturn
MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 2.5 million to Rentek, a Colombian funder of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The goal is to assist Rentek’s clients in recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic. Founded in 1997, Rentek provides liquidity to businesses via loans, equipment leasing and invoice factoring. It also operates a
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Spark+Africa Fund Raises $40m in Equity from Public, Private Investors for Clean Cookstove Industry in Sub-Saharan Africa
The Spark+Africa Fund, an investor in cookstoves that create less pollution and use less fuel, recently launched with a total of USD 40 million invested by 12 organizations. Spark+ invests across the value chain for
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agents for Impact Disburses $15m in Local Currency from IIV to MBK Ventura of Indonesia for Group Microfinance Loans for Women
Agents for Impact (AFI), a Germany-based impact investing company, recently informed MicroCapital that it has disbursed a local-currency loan equivalent to USD 15 million in favor of Mitra Bisnis Keluarga (MBK) Ventura, a microlender in Indonesia, on behalf Invest in Visions (IIV). Established in 2006, MBK Ventura seeks to raise the living standards of low-income women in rural parts of the island of Java by providing access to group microloans for use as
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: CDC, DFC, Norfund Investing $95m in AgDevCo for Agribusiness in Sub-Saharan Africa
AgDevCo, an investor in smaller agribusinesses in Africa, is receiving a funding package of USD 90 million from three development finance institutions (DFIs): USD 50 million in equity from the UK-based CDC Group, USD 20 million in equity from Norway’s Norfund and USD 20 million in debt from the US International Development Finance Corporation (DFC). The organizations
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Flutterwave Raises $250m in Equity Round Led by B Capital, Eyes Expansion Beyond Africa
Flutterwave, a US-based financial technology (fintech) firm active in 34 African countries, recently raised USD 250 million in a Series D equity round, giving it a valuation of USD 3 billion. The funding round was led by US-based investment firm B Capital Group, with three other US-based investors also buying into the company for the first time: Alta Park Capital, Lux Capital and Whale Rock Capital. Other participants in the round were previous investors in the firm,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satisfied Producer of Palm Oil in DRC Has Been “Brought Back from the Brink,” DFIs Sell Debt Holdings in PHC to Maku; Funding to Improve Community Relationships Will Continue
Four European development finance institutions (DFIs) recently sold their debt holdings in Plantations et Huileries du Congo (PHC), a palm oil business in Democratic Republic of the Congo, to Maku Holdings, an affiliate of Kuramo Capital Management, which has offices in Kenya, Nigeria and the US. The DFIs are
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Investment Summit Asia Pacific; March 29 – April 1, 2022; Sydney, Australia
Themed “Collective Wisdom, Courage, and Urgent Action,” the goal of this event is to encourage greater use of “capital as a force for good.” Its speakers represent investors seeking to promote
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fintech Finclusion Assembles $20m in Equity, Debt Investment Round for Transformation into Bank, Expansion to Mozambique, Uganda
Eight individual investors reportedly are among the equity participants in a recent funding package assembled by Finclusion Group, a Mauritius-based financial technology (fintech) firm serving five countries in Africa. A majority of the package, which totaled the equivalent of USD 20 million, was in the form of debt from unspecified “local-currency funds in Eswatini and South Africa.” Finclusion plans to use the fresh cash to