The Sustainable Enterprise Fund, an Austrian impact venture fund managed by Ennovent, along with Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, and Grace Foundation, a Christian organization in Australia that invests in social enterprise-based solutions to poverty, have made an investment in Barefoot Power, an Australian for-profit enterprise that manufactures and sells lighting products, solar phone chargers and business development services for low-income populations. Barefoot Power will use the funds to provide renewable energy and lighting to off-grid communities in India. The size of the investment was not released. As of early 2011, Barefoot Power has served one million people.
By Cameron Milani, Research Associate
About Oikocredit: Oikocredit is a Dutch cooperative investment fund comprised of church groups, cooperatives and individual investors. Established in 1975, it works in 70 countries, investing mainly in microfinance institutions (MFIs), as well as trade cooperatives, fair trade organizations and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the developing world. As of year-end 2010, Oikocredit reported USD 900 million in total assets and 790 active investees, of which 596 were MFIs.
Sources and Additional Resources:
Unitus Capital, “Ennovent Invests in Barefoot Power,” http://unituscapital.com/news-information/press-releases/ennovent-invest…
MicroCapital Article, September 9, 2011: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) Syndicates $19m Loan for Municipal Marketplaces in El Salvador with Participation from Oikocredit, VDK Spaarbank, Bank Im Bistum,” https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-inter-american-developmen…
MicroCapital Universe, Oikocredit: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Oik…
Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/
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