MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institution Fundacion Espoir Receives $2m Investment from MicroVest, Targeting Women-led Businesses in Ecuador

MicroVest, a debt-focused asset manager owned by US-based DAI Global, recently agreed to lend USD 2 million to Ecuador’s Fundacion Espoir, an NGO providing microcredit, insurance and financial education. The goal is to support Fundacion Espoir in assisting women-led micro-, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) in recovering from the economic fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic and boosting female employment in general.

Fundacion Espoir was founded in 1992 and has 21 branches and total assets of USD 65 million as of April 2022. Its loan portfolio totals USD 61 million, of which 57 percent is outstanding to women and one third is disbursed in the form of group loans.

MicroVest was founded in 2003 and specializes in channeling investments to funders of MSMEs in low- and middle-income countries. The firm’s portfolio was valued at USD 519 million as of 2021.
By Hasnat Aslam, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

MicroVest press release
https://microvestfund.com/microvest-invests-in-ecuadorian-ngo-to-support-women-owned-msmes-drive-financial-education/

Fundacion Espoir homepage
https://www.espoir.org.ec/

MicroVest homepage
https://microvestfund.com/

DAI Global homepage
https://www.dai.com/

Previous MicroCapital story on MicroVest https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-khan-bank-borrows-6m-from-microvest-for-smes-in-mongolia/

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