MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Social Finance Global Network, Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG) Launching Social Finance India; Seeking to Raise $2b for Education, Other Double Bottom Line Investing

The UK-based Social Finance Global Network (SFGN), an group of nonprofits supporting impact investing, and the UK-based Global Steering Group for Impact Investment (GSG), which has 19 country members plus the EU, recently announced the debut of Social Finance India. This new NGO is seeking to raise USD 1 billion each for the India Impact Fund of Funds (IIFF) and the India Education Outcomes Fund (IEOF). IIFF will invest debt and equity in non-banking financial companies (NBFCs) directly as well as investment vehicles active in sectors such as renewable energy, financial inclusion and healthcare. IEOF is slated to fund projects that “support improved learning and educational outcomes across India with focus on poor and low-income students in government and affordable schools, including early childhood interventions, literacy & numeracy in primary school, and employability of students after high school.”

Founded in 2007 as Social Finance UK, SFGN is a network of NGOs that “design and manage public-private partnerships that tackle complex social challenges, such as achievement gaps, health disparities, and prisoner recidivism.” The organization includes Social Finance India, Social Finance Israel, Social Finance UK and Social Finance US. As of May 2018, SFGN has disbursed USD 392 million in Social Impact Bonds (SIBs), its primary product, since the organization’s inception. The network reports having reached approximately 738,000 people.

Established in 2015 and based in the UK, GSG seeks “to harness the energy behind impact investment to spark a movement around the world.” Each nation-member of GSG has a National Advisory Board working to promote “investment that optimizes risk, return and impact to benefit people and the planet…by setting specific social and environmental objectives alongside financial ones, and measuring their achievement.” Among GSG’s core activities is organizing an annual conference called the GSG Impact Summit. In India, GSG works with the Impact Investors Council (IIC), which is composed of 30 investors.

By Nicholas Galimberti, Research Associate

Sources and Additional Resources

SFGN press release
http://socialfinance.org/content/uploads/2018_05_14_Launch-of-Social-Finance-India.pdf

Social Finance India website
http://socialfinance.org.in

SFGN background
http://socialfinance.org/global-network/

SFGN projects
https://sibdatabase.socialfinance.org.uk

GSG background
http://gsgii.org/about-us/#aboutgsg

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