MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Backed by G20, Ashoka Changemakers Announces 14 Winners of Small and Medium-sized Enterprise (SME) Finance Challenge

Ashoka Changemakers announced this month that it has selected 14 proposals as the winners of the SME Finance Challenge, which is hosted by Ashoka, a US-based nonprofit organization that invests in social entrepreneurship, and backed by the G-20, a group of financial ministers and central bank authorities representing 20 major economies. Private sector actors from around the world were asked to submit models that would catalyze finance for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) by leveraging scarce public resources [1].

The winners will be recognized by officials at the upcoming G-20 Summit in Seoul, South Korea, which is to take place on November 11-12, 2010, and are invited to join an SME conference in Germany on November 15-16, 2010 [2].

Winners:

1. Peace Dividend Trust

2. Equity for Africa Limited

3. responsAbility BOP Investments (rABOP)

4. Aavishkaar India Micro Venture Capital Fund

5. TREFI

6. Medical Credit Fund

7. Barefoot Angels Fund

8. MFX Solutions

9. Bank of the Philippine Islands

10. Root Capital

11. Entrepreneurial Finance Lab

12. East African Rural Enterprise Facility

13. BiD Network

14. The European Fund for Southeast Europe (EFSE)

About The Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G-20): The Group of 20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors (G-20) is a group of finance ministers and central bank governors from 20 economies that encourages cooperation and consultation on matters pertaining to the international financial system. It studies, reviews and promotes discussion of policy issues pertaining to increased international financial stability and seeks to address issues that go beyond the responsibilities of any one organization or country.

About Ashoka Changemakers: Launched in 1994, Ashoka Changemakers is an initiative of the US-based nonprofit Ashoka, which was founded in 1980. Changemakers aims to facilitate online collaborations and communication to help advance and scale global social innovations.

About Ashoka: Ashoka is a US-based nonprofit organization that was established in 1980. Ashoka invests in social entrepreneurship through its fellows program, which provides leading entrepreneurs a living stipend for an average of three years, allowing them to focus full-time on building their institutions and spreading their ideas. Ashoka aims to build an infrastructure that supports the growth and expansion of the field of social entrepreneurship, including seed financing and capital, access to the business and academic sectors and strategic partnerships with social and financial value. As of 2009 Ashoka reported total assets of USD 79 million.

By Diana Baide, Research Assistant

[1] MicroCapital. “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Group of 20 (G-20) and Ashoka’s Changemakers Announce Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Finance Challenge 2010” by Matthew Fox, 1 August 2010

https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-group-of-20-g-20-and-ashokas-changemakers-announce-small-and-medium-enterprise-sme-finance-challenge-2010/

[2] Ashoka Changemakers. “Competition News: Announcing the winners of the G-20 SME Finance Challenge”

http://www.changemakers.com/SME-Finance/finalists

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