The 
International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, recently agreed to invest USD 2 million in Flat6Labs Amman, a venture capital fund in Jordan, to support startups in that country over the next five years. The Women Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (We-Fi), an initiative of the G20 group of large economies, is providing an additional USD 500,000 to the firm.
Founded in 2011, Flat6Labs supports early-stage ventures in the Middle East and North Africa with investments typically ranging from USD 50,000 to USD 500,000 as well as non-financial support such as arranging mentorships. Its sectors of focus are education, finance, healthcare and information technology. As of December 2020, the firm has 25 investors and approximately 300 investments in seven countries. Flat6Labs closed the 2020 fiscal year with USD 85 million in assets under management.
Based in the US and founded in 2017, We-Fi supports women entrepreneurs in emerging markets with access to finance, training, mentoring and networking and markets. It also works to reduce legal and regulatory constraints for women in business. During the 2020 fiscal year, it disbursed about USD 300 million to support women in 60 countries.
Founded in 1956, IFC offers loans, equity investments, advisory services and technical assistance to private companies with the intent of alleviating poverty and promoting open and competitive markets in developing countries. During the 12 months ending June 2020, IFC reported total disbursements of USD 26 billion, closing the year with total assets of USD 96 billion.
The World Bank Group is a multilateral organization whose goal is “to end extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity in a sustainable way.” As of 2021, it has 189 member nations. The group encompasses: (1) the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the International Development Association, which make up the World Bank; (2) IFC; (3) the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency; and (4) the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes. During the 12 months ending June 2020, the World Bank Group disbursed a total of USD 54 billion.
By Teo Lin-Bianco, Research Associate
Sources and Additional Resources
IFC press release
https://pressroom.ifc.org/all/pages/PressDetail.aspx?ID=26423
Flat6Labs homepage
https://flat6labs.com/
We-Fi homepage
https://we-fi.org/
We-Fi annual report 2020
https://we-fi.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/03/WeFi-Annual-Report-2020.pdf
IFC annual report 2020
https://www.ifc.org/wps/wcm/connect/corp_ext_content/ifc_external_corporate_site/annual+report/download
IFC homepage
https://www.ifc.org/
World Bank Group homepage
https://www.worldbank.org/
Previous MicroCapital article on IFC
https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-ifc-invests-24m-in-evolving-europe-principal-investments-fund-eepif-to-boost-sme-finance/
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