MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus Announces Ganesh Rengaswamy as India Country Director and Newest Member of Global Senior Management Team

Ganesh Rengaswamy has been named India Country Director for Unitus, Inc., an international non-profit organization that partners with early-stage microfinance institutions (MFIs). Mr. Rengaswamy will head the organization’s India microfinance initiatives including managing the team of consultants, advising Unitus microfinance partners, and serving on the global senior management team.

Mr. Rengaswamy holds a Bachelor’s degree in engineering from IT-BHU/IIT-BHU (India), a Master in Business Administration from Harvard Business School, and a graduate degree in finance and systems strategy from IIM-Calcutta. Before joining Unitus, Rengaswamy was co-founder of Travelguru.com, a travel website for hotels and vacations in India and South Asia, and launched India investments for Greylock Partners. Prior to Greylock he worked for Infosys Technologies, managing mission-critical engagements for Fortune 500 clients and leading USD 100 million customer acquisition programs. Before Infosys, he managed a private investment fund.

Established in 2000 and based in Seattle, Washington (US), Unitus Inc. connects partner MFIs with business expertise, capital investments, and innovative tools and services. According to its website, Unitus works with 24 microfinance partners in India, Southeast Asia, East Africa, South America, and Mexico, and has served more than 8 million families in the last seven years. According the company’s most recent annual report, as of December 2007 Unitus’ total assets were USD 15.1 million. The organization reported partnerships with 18 MFIs in seven different countries, representing over 3.3 million clients with an aggregate gross loan portfolio of over USD 379 million. The annual report is also available on the MIX Market, the microfinance information clearinghouse. No other more recent data was available.

Earlier this year, as reported in this MicroCapital story, Unitus opened the Africa Microfinance Growth Center, a non-profit program developed in partnership with Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSDK), to help CEOs and senior managers of early-stage MFIs improve strategy, leadership, and execution in order to grow their organizations and expand microfinance services in East Africa.

By Laura Anderson, Research Associate

Additional Resources:

Unitus, Inc.: Home, 2007 Annual Report

PRNewswire: Unitus Announces Ganesh Rengaswamy as India Country Director and Newest Member of Global Senior Management Team

The MIX Market: Home

Financial Sector Deepening Kenya (FSDK): Home

Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance Limited (GVMFL): Home

MicroVest: Home

AMAR Foundation: Home

MicroCapital Story: Unitus, in Partnership with Financial Sector Deepening (FSDK), Opens Africa Microfinance Growth Centre, a Leadership Development Program for Early-Stage Microfinance Institutions in East Africa