MICROCAPITAL STORY: Nonprofit Unitus Launches For-profit Financial Advisory Firm 'Unitus Capital'

Unitus, Inc., an international nonprofit that seeks to advance market-based solutions to poverty, recently launched Unitus Capital, a for-profit financial advisory firm that aims to connect capital market investors with social enterprises focused on creating both social and financial returns. Operating as a legally independent, for-profit institution, Unitus Capital represents the transformation of nonprofit Unitus’ capital markets business unit. It will remain a strategic affiliate of Unitus. The nascent institution has received USD 5.5 million in seed funding from private investors including WEGA Support GmbH, Robert Gay, co-founder and CEO of H&G Capital Partners, and William S. Price III, Founding Partner of Texas Pacific Group. Unitus Capital did not disclose its number of employees; nonprofit Unitus currently employs 21-100 individuals, according to nonprofit research firm GuideStar. The firm’s Managing Directors include Kylie Charlton and Eric Savage, both founding members of Unitus Capital. Both Charlton and Savage were most recently employees of nonprofit Unitus’ capital markets unit. Before Unitus, both worked for Citigroup in separate investment banking units. For a complete profile on Unitus Capital’s management team, please click here.

Managing Director Eric Savage elaborated on the organization’s mission: “The microfinance industry is at a crossroads. While the sector has seen private capital investments more than triple over the last three years, lack of financing remains perhaps the most significant challenge for hundreds of high-growth, high-quality MFIs and social enterprises. Unitus Capital is designed to transform the investment environment to better serve businesses that assist the poor by introducing more efficient and appropriate financing.”

Founding organization Unitus made recent headlines on MicroCapital with the launching of another affiliate, Unitus Equity Fund, a legally independent, for-profit institution that makes direct equity investments in microfinance institutions throughout the developing world. The fund’s key investors include Legatum Group and Omidyar Network, each contributing USD 20 million.

Founded in 2000, Unitus, Inc. is an international nonprofit organization that seeks to advance market-based solutions to global poverty. To this end, Unitus and strategic affiliates partner with commercial microfinance institutions to help them build capacity, attract capital, and achieve growth. According to Unitus’ 2006 financial statements, the nonprofit held USD 13.3 million (p.20) in total assets, while the aggregated loan portfolio of partnering MFIs totaled USD 115.4 million (p.13). In March 2008, MicroCapital reported that the total clients served by partnering MFIs had surpassed the 3 million mark.

For a complete listing of MicroCapital stories covering Unitus and affiliates, please click here.

By Ryan Benson, Research Assistant

Additional Resources:

Unitus: Home

Unitus Equity Fund: Home

Market Watch: Unitus Launches Financial Services Firm to Channel Capital to Social Entrepreneurs in Emerging Markets, July 24, 2008.

MicroCapital Story: Unitus Launches $56m Microfinance Fund; Key Stakeholders Include Legatum, Omidyar Network, by Ryan Benson, June 25, 2008.

MicroCapital Story: Unitus Inc., a U.S. Nonprofit, Doubles Reach of Its Global Microfinance Partner Network in 2007, by Stephen Son, March 4, 2008.

Unitus Press Release: Unitus Capital Receives 5.5m In Initial Round Of Seed Funding, July 24, 2008.

Guidestar: Home

Guidestar: Unitus Profile

Unitus Capital: Management Team