by Diya Chopra -

MICROCAPITAL.ORG STORY: Unitus and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation Collaborate to Increase Use of Social Performance Management Among Microfinance Institutions

A recent press release announced a new program to be implemented by the Michael and Susan Dell Foundation in association with Unitus, an international non-profit organization specializing in microfinance. The Social Performance Management Implementation Project (SPM IP) will be launched in India to measure the impact of microfinance institutions (MFIs) on the borrowers who work with them. Social performance management is a program used to assess an organizations goals, its progress towards these goals, and the need for improving process to strengthen future performance.

by Jaclyn Berfond -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance Limited (GVMFL) Raises USD 4.25 million from MicroVest, Unitus Equity Fund, and Amar Foundation

In its second round of fundraising, Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) based in Tamil Nadu, India, raised USD 4.25 million from MicroVest, Unitus Equity Fund, and the Amar Foundation.

by Laura Anderson -

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.

by Sally Levy -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus, Inc. and Yehu Microfinance Trust of Kenya form New Partnership

Unitus, Inc., an international non-profit organization, and Yehu Microfinance Trust of Kenya announced that they have formed a new partnership. Yehu currently serves people in rural coastal Kenya and Unitus already works with two other MFIs in East Africa.

by Laura Anderson -

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

Unitus, an international non-profit organization, has 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 microfinance organizations (MFIs) improve strategy, leadership, and execution in order to grow their organizations and expand microfinance services in East Africa.  In addition to assistance from FSDK, financial support is also being provided by Omidyar Network, The Boeing Company, and SV2: Silicon Valley Social Venture Fund.  No information as to the amounts provided by these companies or the overall budget of the Center was available at the time of this release.

by Iyanna Holmes -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus, Inc. and Whole Planet Foundation Announce Partnership With Jamii Bora Trust, a Kenyan MFI

Unitus, Inc. and Whole Planet Foundation (WPF), a Whole Foods Market foundation, announced plans to fuel the growth of microfinance in the coffee-growing regions of Kenya.  Specifically, the two will support Jamii Bora Trust, one of Kenya’s fastest growing microfinance institutions and a Unitus partner since 2003, expand into the rural coffee-growing regions of Central and Eastern provinces in Kenya.  This agreement, the amount of which was undisclosed, marks Whole Planet Foundation’s first entry into Africa.

by Lori Curtis -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: India’s Ujjivan Increases Equity With Investments By Unitus Equity Fund, Bellwether Microfinance Fund, Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, Sequoia Capital, Lok Capital, India Financial Inclusion Fund and SIDBI

Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore-based microfinance institution (MFI), has completed the fourth round of equity infusion by raising Rs 940 million (USD 18.7 million) making it the fourth highest capitalised MFI in India with total paid up capital and reserves standing at over Rs 1.08 billion (USD 21.5 million) The increase in capital was largely invested by existing shareholders including Unitus Equity Fund (UEF) managed by Elevar Equity L.L.C., Bellwether Microfinance Fund, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, A.W. Holdings and individual investors including promoter & CEO Samit Ghosh. The five new investors in this private placement transaction will include: Sequoia Capital, Lok Capital, Unitus Equity Fund II, India Financial Inclusion Fund and SIDBI.

by Yrenilsa Lopez -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Madura Micro Finance to receive USD 4.52 Million from Unitus Equity Fund L.P. to expand upon Rural Microcredit Products in India

Unitus Equity Fund L.P., a Seattle-based private equity investment firm announced a funding of Rs 22 Crores (USD 4.52 million) to Madura Micro Finance Limited (MMFL) an Indian microfinance institution. Madura is a non-banking finance company servicing India’s rural poor population. It has credit networks throughout the 182 branches within the rural Tamil Nadue province, and mostly works in association with large commercial banks as sources of credit.

by Greg Casey -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Technology Company, Comat, Raises $12.5m from Omiydar Network and Unitus Equity Fund of the United States

Comat, a technology company providing services to rural India, recently raised INR 60 crore (USD 12.5m) from the Omidyar Network and the Unitus Equity Fund (UEF). According to a Business Standard article, the new investment will allow “Comat to expand to new States, accelerate service delivery for training and financial services [and] strengthen management bandwidth.”

by Ryan Benson -

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.

by Ryan Benson -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Unitus Launches $56m Microfinance Fund; Key Stakeholders Include Legatum, Omidyar Network

Seattle-based Unitus Equity Fund has raised USD 56 million that it plans to invest solely in commercial microfinance institutions throughout the world. Key stakeholders in the private equity fund include Legatum Group and Omidyar Network, each investing USD 20 million. The remaining USD 16 million was provided by an undisclosed source. Omidyar’s investment in the fund comes in the wake of an April 2008  MicroCapital report that Omidyar awarded a USD 9 million grant to Unitus, a nonprofit that is affiliated with the private equity fund. Omidyar’s grant supported Unitus’ three year expansion plan.

by Stephen Son -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Investment Group Legatum and Omidyar Network Invest $40m in Unitus Equity Fund II

Legatum, an international private investment group, and the Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm, will invest USD 40 million in Unitus Equity Fund II, a newly created private equity fund that will provide capital to microfinance institutions (MFIs) with an emphasis on growth.

by Sarah Knapp -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Calvert Foundation Makes Microfinance Investments Totaling $1.6m in Banco Solidario, Unitus and Pro Mujer

In its Microfinance Capital Markets Update, CGAP (Consultative Group to Assist the Poor) reports that Calvert Social Investment Foundation invested USD 1.6 million in three microfinance organizations. Calvert invested USD 400,000 in Banco Solidario, USD 500,000 in Unitus and USD 650,000 in Pro Mujer. CGAP reports that in transacting with Pro Mujer, Calvert made two separate investments, one totaling USD 150,000, directed “worldwide”, the other totaling USD 500,000 directed towards Latin America and the Caribbean.

by Jennifer Lee -

MICROCAPITAL STORY: Indian Microfinance Institution Grama Vidiyal Microfinance (GV) Plans Expansion and Receives USD 3.5 Million from Unitus Equity Fund and Vinod Khosla

Indian non-banking finance company, Grama Vidiyal Microfinance (GV), will look to increase its branches by 115 for its current 100. Currently GV operates in 18 districts of the southern state of Tamil Nadu. By December of 2009, the company expects to open branches in Andhra Pradesh and then in northern India.