MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Accion Venture Lab, Brick & Mortar Ventures Lead $3.4m Equity Raise for Licify to Expand Vende+ Construction Portal from Colombia to Mexico

Licify, a Colombian company offering construction procurement and related digital financial services, recently secured an investment package totaling USD 3.4 million. The group of investors includes

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Invest, Oikocredit Subscribing to $20m Bond from CJA to Finance MSMEs in Ecuador, Targeting Underrepresented Groups

Ecuador-based Cooperativa de Ahorro y Crédito Jardín Azuayo (CJA), with support from IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, is issuing bonds to raise a total of USD 20 million. The Netherlands-based cooperative Oikocredit and IDB Invest each have committed to purchase

MICROFINANCE EVENT: 5th Annual CLIIQ Nexus Latam; September 26-28, 2023; Cuenca, Ecuador

This year’s Cumbre Latinoamericana de Inversión de Impacto (CLIIQ) will bring together impact investors in Latin America for discussions in arenas such as: (1) Diversity and Inclusion: Gender and Beyond; (2) Climate Solutions; (3)

MICROFINANCE EVENT: Impact Minds: Standing Together; August 28-30, 2023; Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

This event will promote networking among impact ecosystem actors to facilitate the deployment of capital in Latin America and the Caribbean. On August 27, members of the Colombia-based network Latimpacto will meet for a pre-event dinner. The main event offers sessions titled: (1) The Role of the Multilaterals Acting as

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Desjardins Lending $1m from Aequitas Impact Fund to ADIGUA to Expand Microfinance Loans in Guatemala

Through its Aequitas Impact Fund, the Canadian NGO Desjardins International Development recently lent USD 1 million to the nonprofit Asociación para el Desarrollo Integral de Guatemala (ADIGUA). ADIGUA was founded in the city of Sololá, Guatemala, in 2003 to support

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: 60 Decibels Microfinance Index Data from 32 Countries Indicates Higher Confidence Among Group Borrowers, Greatest Debt Burden in Cambodia

This year’s second annual Microfinance Index from US-based impact measurement firm 60 Decibels draws on phone calls to approximately 32,000 users of microfinance services delivered by 115 financial services providers (FSPs) in 32 countries. In general, FSP clients reported higher confidence in dealing with economic shocks than

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Pro Mujer Borrows $2m from Aequitas Impact Fund to Uplift Women-owned Businesses in Nicaragua

The Canadian NGO Desjardins International Development (DID) recently lent USD 2 million from its Aequitas Impact Fund to the Nicaragua-based unit of Pro Mujer, a US-based NGO that supports women and their businesses with health, training,

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FSPs in Ecuador to Evaluate Role of Bias in Financial Access for Women-led MSMEs with Support from IDB Invest, RFD

Red de Instituciones Financieras de Desarrollo (RFD), a network of 53 banks, cooperatives and nonprofit financial services providers (FSPs) in Ecuador, recently agreed to partner with IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, to offer RFD members advisory services relating to boosting their financing of female-led micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). RFD will distribute an online survey designed by the IDB Group to address

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EIB Loans $214m to Sicredi for Solar Panels for Households, SMEs in Brazil

Banco Cooperativo Sicredi, a Brazil-based financial cooperative owned by its 6.5 million members, recently agreed to borrow EUR 200 million (USD 214 million) from the EU’s European Investment Bank (EIB). Sicredi plans to use the capital to equip houses and

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Cubo Raises $3.5m in Debt, Equity to Boost Acceptance of Digital Payments by Microenterprises in Central America

El Salvadoran startup Cubo, in an effort to bring its digital payments solutions to Guatemala, Panama and Costa Rica, recently raised USD 3.5 million in seed financing from investors including IDB Lab, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group, and three venture capital firms, Colombia-based Latin Leap, Peru’s Seedstars and India’s Soma Capital. Cubo expects the new funding to allow it to reach about

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroVest Lending $3.4m to Financiera Finexpar for Agriculture, SME Lending in Paraguay

MicroVest, an asset management subsidiary of US-based DAI Global, recently issued a loan of USD 3.4 million to the Paraguay-based microfinance institution (MFI) Financiera Finexpar to support the MFI’s lending activities, specifically the funding of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) engaged in

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund Invests $1m in Acceso Financiero for Microfinance in Honduras

The managers of the Ilu Women’s Empowerment Fund recently invested USD 1 million from the fund in the Honduran unit of Mexico-based Acceso Financiero, a microfinance institution (MFI) that provides credit to approximately 40,000 low-income clients in rural El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico. The investment, which is in the form of “risk adjusted blended finance capital,” is

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: BIM Borrows $20m from IDB Invest for Locfund Next to Support Lenders to MSMEs in Latin America, Caribbean

Locfund Next, a debt fund managed by Bolivia-based BIM Asset Management, recently accepted a 6-year loan of USD 20 million from IDB Invest, a member of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group. The loan is intended to help funders of micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) to expand their outreach to

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: EBRD Purchases 5% Equity Stake in ProCredit from IFC, Increasing Exposure to SMEs in Europe, Ecuador

The multilateral European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) recently purchased a 5-percent stake in Germany-based ProCredit Holding from the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), along with a

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IDB Lab Accepting Applications from Entrepreneurs in Latin America, Caribbean for WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition, Partner of Google for Startups, Through March 31

WeXchange, a program of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Group’s IDB Lab, recently started accepting applications from female entrepreneurs in Latin America and the Caribbean for the WeXchange Women STEMpreneurs Competition. The competition targets women whose businesses