The microlender Arohan Financial Services recently filed with the Securities Exchange Board of India in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO) through which it seeks to raise INR
Tag: India
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Creation Investments Launches Debt Fund in India to Focus on Microfinance, SMEs, Housing, Education
Creation Investments Capital Management, which is based in the US city of Chicago, recently opened an office in the Indian city of Bengaluru and launched a fund for lending to non-banking financial companies in the country. The target firms are those that
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Satya of India Raises $20m in Equity from Impact Investor Gojo for Microfinance for Rural Women
Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Satya MicroCapital Limited recently raised an additional INR 1.53 billion (USD 20 million) in equity from Japanese microfinance investor Gojo & Company. The investment takes the total funds raised by the company to INR 2.6 billion (USD 36 million).
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: India’s DeHaat Raises $30m in Equity for Agricultural Technology from Prosus Ventures, RTP Global, AgFunder, FMO, Omnivore, Sequoia India
DeHaat, an India-based agriculture technology (agritech) company, recently raised USD 30 million in Series C funding. Prosus Ventures, a technology investor based in the Netherlands, led the round, with RTP Global, a Russia-based venture capital firm, also investing in DeHaat for the first time. The following entities increased their stakes
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP-UP: “Debt Relief in the Pandemic: Lessons from India, Peru and Uganda;” by Elisabeth Rhyne, Eric Duflos; Published by CGAP
In response to the economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, regulators in approximately 115 countries directed financial service providers (FSPs) to grant debt moratoria and restructuring to their borrowers. The authors of this paper reviewed surveys, interviews and other materials regarding
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Agritech CropIn of India Raises $20m in Equity from Investors Including ABC World Asia, CDC Group, Pratithi Investment Trust
CropIn, an agricultural technology (agritech) firm based in India, recently raised USD 20 million in its Series C funding round. The lead investor is ABC World Asia, a private equity firm headquartered in Singapore. ABC World Asia CEO David Heng said the investment
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Samunnati Borrows $12m from FMO, Triodos to Boost Agricultural Producer Organizations, SMEs in India
Samunnati, a non-banking financial company in India dedicated to the agricultural sector, recently borrowed EUR 5 million (USD 6.1 million) each from Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government, and Triodos Investment Management (Triodos IM), a subsidiary of Netherlands-based Triodos Bank, for on-lending to farmer producer organizations (FPOs) and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agricultural sector. Triodos IM is disbursing the funds from
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Aye Finance Borrows $10m from Catalyst Trusteeship for On-lending to MSEs in India
Aye Finance, an online lender in India, recently received USD 10 million in debt financing from India-based Catalyst Trusteeship via Catalyst’s investment vehicles Masala Investment Sarl and Asian Access Vehicle (AAV) Sarl. Through a mobile-phone application,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Haqdarshak Targets MSMEs, Employees with Fee-based Service for Potential Recipients of Government Services in India
Haqdarshak Empowerment Solutions, a for-profit service that helps people in India access 254 government and private programs, recently expanded its focus on community organizations and larger businesses to include micro-, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs). The firm works with these partner organizations to reach
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Code for Responsible Lending Assessment Tool to Incorporate Comprehensive Credit Reporting, Microfinance Institutions to Increase Frequency of Reports to Credit Bureaux
The Code for Responsible Lending (CRL), an initiative serving microlenders in India, recently began developing a new credit assessment tool for evaluating loan applications from low-income households. The tool is intended to help lenders “go beyond multiple/over lending limits and more systematically evaluate the low-income customer
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Amazon Launches Digital Insurance, Gold Investing in India
Amazon, a US-based retailer and technology company, recently broadened the services it offers in India to include auto insurance sold via the Amazon Pay digital wallet and gold investment products sold through SafeGold, a service of Digital Gold India that allows its users to buy and sell gold online. Amazon launched Amazon Pay in India in 2016
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Symbiotics Launches $6.7m Bond for Samunnati, Provider of Microfinance, Market Access, Technology to Agricultural Sector in India
Symbiotics, a Switzerland-based investment company, recently launched a bond issue intended to raise INR 500 million (USD 6.75 million) for Samunnati Financial Intermediation & Services Private Limited, a for-profit non-banking financial company in India. The proceeds will flow
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Ujjivan Small Finance Bank, Provider of Microfinance in India, Files for IPO
India’s Ujjivan Small Finance Bank (SFB) recently filed paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Board of India in preparation for an initial public offering (IPO). Ujjivan SFB seeks to raise
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Government of India May Waive Microfinance Debt for “Small Distressed Borrowers”
The Indian government reportedly is planning a debt waiver program for “small distressed borrowers” under the country’s insolvency and bankruptcy code. While the criteria under which a borrower would qualify for the program remain under discussion, potential parameters include
MICROFINANCE PAPER WRAP UP: “Understanding the Impact of Demonetization on Bank Account Holders from Low Income Households,” Published by IFMR LEAD
This is a summary of a paper by Preethi Rao, Suraj Nair and Shruti Korada; published by Leveraging Evidence for Access and Development (LEAD), a unit of the Institute for Financial Management and Research (IFMR); April 2018, 46 pages, available at:
http://ifmrlead.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/IFMR-LEAD-Demonetization-Study-Final-Report.pdf
This study reviews the short- and long-term impacts on low-income households resulting from the demonetization of Indian currency in 2016. The authors collected data
MICROFINANCE EVENT: Livelihoods India Summit; January 28-29, 2019; New Delhi, India
The Livelihoods India Summit is organized by Access Development Services to facilitate dialogue on improving the livelihoods of poor people and building consensus on sustainable solutions. This ninth iteration of the event is co-hosted by the Indian government’s National Institute for Transforming India (NITI) Aayog. The summit themes include: (1) Capacitating Women: Enabling them for Entrepreneurship; (2) A Dialogue on Value Addition in Agri-Value Chains between the Private and Public Sectors; (3) Infusion of Technologies in Agriculture
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: FMO Buys $30m in Bonds from Satin Creditcare, Supporting Microfinance Institution’s Expansion in Rural India
Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Satin Creditcare Network recently raised USD 30 million through a bond sale to Nederlandse Financierings-Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden (FMO), a development bank controlled by the Dutch government,
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Fusion Microfinance Raises $72m in Equity from Warburg Pincus, Creation Investments; Provides Exits to Incofin, Nordic Microfinance Initiative, SIDBI, BIO
US-based investors Warburg Pincus and Creation Investments recently placed INR 520 crore (USD 72 million) in equity in Fusion Microfinance, a provider of group loans and financial literacy training to women in rural areas of northern and central India. As part of the funding round, the following investors sold their stakes in the