by the MicroCapital Team -

Unitus, Dignity Fund Extend US$200,000 Credit Facility to Argentina’s FIS Empresa Social

FIS Empresa Social, an Argentinean microfinance institution, has closed on a US$200,000 direct debt facility with the Dignity Fund. The transaction was facilitated by Redmond, Washington-based Unitus, with assistance from Chatham Financial. FIS seeks to provide microcredit services on a broad, sustainable scale in Argentina. The two-year loan, made in the local currency of Argentinean Pesos, will be used to aggressively expand the institution’s client base from 3,000 to 55,000 by 2009. FIS does not report financial information to the MIXMarket.

The Dignity Fund is a limited partnership, private investment fund. The partnership seeks to increase access to financial services among the poor and provides debt financing to promising microfinance institutions. As of year-end 2005, the fund had allocated US$3,500,000 to microfinance investments.

Unitus is a non-profit microfinance investment fund with assets of US$7,100,000 as of August 2004. It provides both strategic consulting and funding for microfinance institutions using its “Acceleration Model.” Unitus brought Chatham Financial in to advise on the complexities of the transaction. The company is a leader in foreign exchange and interest rate transactions.

Additional Resources

1) MIXMarket: UNITUS

2) MIXMarket: Dignity Fund
3) FIS Empresa Social
4) Unitus
5) Dignity Fund
6) Yahoo! Finance: “The Dignity Fund Provides $200,000 Debt Facility for Unitus Microfinance Institution Partner FIS,” April 26, 2006.

by the MicroCapital Team -

Sun Microsystems founder, Vinod Khosla, Leads Charge in India’s Largest Microfinance Equity Investment to Date, Joining with Unitus and Others in Investing US$2.5 million in SKS Microfinance

Sun Microsystems (NASDAQ: SUNW) founder and Chief Executive Officer, Vinod Khosla, lead a group of investors today in committing US$2.5 million to SKS Microfinance of India. Founded in 1998, SKS Microfinance reported having a loan portfolio of US$7,604,876 and total assets of US$9,130,885 as of March 31, 2005. Since then, that portfolio has grown to over US$14 million. The bank’s 42 branches and 400+ employees serve women in India’s poorest regions, in particular, the drought plagued Deccan Region. Though it has yet to report a profit, SKS Microfinance has brought its return on equity up from -55.85% in 2000 to only -0.06% in the first quarter of 2005. With annual growth pegged consistently at around 250%, a positive return should be just around the corner.

Continue reading “Sun Microsystems founder, Vinod Khosla, Leads Charge in India’s Largest Microfinance Equity Investment to Date, Joining with Unitus and Others in Investing US$2.5 million in SKS Microfinance”

by the MicroCapital Team -

American Microfinance Investment Fund Unitus Donates and Lends to Argentinean Micro-lender FIS Empresa Social

Unitus, a non-profit microfinance investment fund with assets of $7,100,000 as of August 2004, announced a partnership with FIS Empresa Social of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Through this agreement Unitus will provide FIS with $100,000 in grants and a $500,000 debt facility, as well as capacity-building consulting services. Unitus provides a variety of services to micro-lenders throughout the world. The firm currently has eight partners serving about 540,000 clients in India, Kenya, Mexico and Argentina.

Founded in 1999 as the microfinance arm of non-governmental organization (NGO) El Ceibal, FIS became an independent microfinance institution in 2005. FIS is now a for-profit institution which receives foreign and domestic equity investments. FIS has a current client base of 3,000 and, with this boost from Unitus, projects expansion of MFI services to more than 55,000 clients by 2009. No additional financial data on FIS is available at this time.

by the MicroCapital Team -

American Microfinance Investment Fund Unitus Strikes Deals with Pro Mujer Mexico and the Jamii Bora Trust of Kenya

Unitus, a non-profit microfinance investment fund with assets of US$7,100,000 as of August 2004, completed three new microfinance investment deals. Unitus provides both strategic consulting and funding for microfinance institutions using its “Acceleration Model.”
Continue reading “American Microfinance Investment Fund Unitus Strikes Deals with Pro Mujer Mexico and the Jamii Bora Trust of Kenya”

by the MicroCapital Team -

SPECIAL REPORT: Local Market Data, Resilience During Pandemic, Securitization, Land Title Systems Enable Housing Microfinance, Micro-mortgages

During European Microfinance PlatformEuropean Microfinance Week 2020, Maria Claudia Rojas of the Netherlands’ Triple Jump described her firm’s experience managing the MicroBuild Fund it created with US-based Habitat for Humanity in 2012. Compared with Triple Jump’s portfolio as a whole, MicroBuild has maintained higher asset quality, and that margin of superiority has doubled during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lucie Astier Such of the French government’s AFD explained her agency’s role in providing technical assistance, loans and data to support housing finance in developing countries. Part of this effort involves connecting households and microfinance institutions (MFIs) with reputable builders and suppliers of construction materials. One tool for this purpose is

by Kevin van den Brink -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Ujjivan Goes Public, Raising $95m in Association With IPO

Ujjivan Financial Services, an Indian provider of microloans and life insurance, recently conducted its initial public offering (IPO), generating INR 3.6 billion (USD 54 million) from the sale of newly issued shares.

by Ben Krupp -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi North East (RGVN) Microfinance Raises $7m in Equity Funding from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative Fund III, Oikocredit of the Netherlands, Dia Vikas Capital of India

Rashtriya Gramin Vikas Nidhi North East (RGVN), a microfinance institution (MFI) based in the Indian state of Assam, reportedly has raised approximately INR 420 million (USD 6.98 million) in equity funding from new investors [1].

by Juan Blanco Ramos -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Ujjivan Financial Services Disburses Loans Totaling $166m Via Direct Deposit to Bank Accounts

Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore-based microfinance institution, has disbursed local currency loans totaling the equivalent of USD 166 million, approximately 50 percent of its total loan disbursements this year, directly to customer’s bank accounts.

by A'kos Szebeni -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Satin Creditcare Raises $4.7m in Equity from Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI)

Satin Creditcare Network (Satin), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI), recently announced that it has raised INR 284 million (USD 4.7 million) in equity from the Norwegian Microfinance Initiative (NMI), a Norway-based public-private partnership that invests in and offers technical support to MFIs.

by A'kos Szebeni -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Grama Vidiyal Microfinance of India Borrows from World Business Capital

Grama Vidiyal Microfinance, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu, has raised an undisclosed amount of financing through both senior and subordinate loans from World Business Capital, a US-based lender to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).

by Meraj Husain -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India-based Elevar Seeks to Raise $75m for Third Impact-Investing Private Equity Fund, Receives Commitment from Omidyar Network

Elevar Equity, an India-based private equity fund that is focused on “impact investing,” is seeking to raise USD 75 million for its third fund by the end of 2014. Elevar reportedly has received commitments of unspecified amounts from two investors, including US-based investment firm Omidyar Network.

by Nisha Koul -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Wholesale Microfinance Lender Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth (Ananya) of India Raises Equity Capital of $2.86m from Women’s World Banking, Industrial Development Bank of India

Ananya Finance for Inclusive Growth Private Limited (Ananya), a non-banking financial company (NBFC) in India, has raised INR 180 million (USD 2.86 million) in equity capital from the Isis Fund of Women’s World Banking (WWB), a US-based network of 39 microfinance institutions (MFIs), and Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI), an Indian public-sector bank [1].

by Adrija Vaiciulionis -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ujjivan Financial Services Raises $7.9m from Oikocredit for On-Lending to Microfinance Clients

Ujjivan Financial Services, a Bangalore-based microfinance institution, has raised INR 500 million (USD 7.9 million) of debt capital from Oikocredit, a Dutch cooperative investment fund, for on-lending to microfinance clients in an effort to support economic development in poor Indian communities.

by Adrija Vaiciulionis -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Private Equity Funds to Buy Stake in Janalakshmi Financial Services of India for $50.9m

Several private equity (PE) funds reportedly have taken stakes totaling INR 325 crore (USD 50.9 million) in Janalakshmi Financial Services (JFS), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on disbursing loans to clients in urban areas. 

by Anesa Kratovac -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: German KfW Bank Invests $3.28m in Equity in Invest India Micro Pension Services

Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau Entwicklungsbank (KfW), a German state-owned development bank, has invested USD 3.28 million in equity in Invest India Micro Pension Services (IIMPS), a New Delhi-based regulator of micro-pension and long-term micro-savings products for poor people, in order to expand pension services to the working poor [1].

by Makai McClintock -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nine Indian Impact Investment Companies Forming “Indian Impact Investor Council”

Nine companies that specialize in impact investment reportedly will be establishing the “Indian Impact Investor Council” (IIIC) to establish guidelines helping investment companies in India regulate their efforts to meet social goals.

by Nicole Boyd -

MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Satin Creditcare Sells 20% Equity Stake for $8m from Danish Microfinance Partners, MicroVest II, ShoreCap II; Lok Capital Exits

Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Satin Creditcare Network Limited recently raised INR 410 million (USD 7.5 million) by selling a stake of approximately 20 percent to three microfinance investment funds in undisclosed portions: Danish Microfinance Partners K/S (DMP), MicroVest II LP and ShoreCap II Limited.