International Finance Corporation (IFC), an investment arm of the World Bank, will pick up close to 15% stake in Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company II (second round fund) with an investment of $15 million. Aavishkaar Goodwell is a closed-end private equity fund, focused on investing in and supporting enterprises active in the microfinance sector in India.
Aavishkaar Goodwell aims to raise $100 million in total capital commitments in the second round and intends to provide long-term capital and active support to microfinance institutions as well as innovative enterprises that enable growth and value creation in the sector, said Vineet Rai, chief executive officer, Aavishkaar Venture Management Services, which looks after fund activities in India.
?IFC is an existing investor and has invested in our first round $18-million fund. To spread our wings further and to enlarge our scope of activities into areas such as housing finance, technical microfinancing and financial technologies, we have decided to go for larger funds in our second round,? he said.
?IFC is likely to pick up 15% stake for its proposed investments of $15 million in our second round. We hope to finanlise the deal by June. We are in talks with many investors and we hope to complete our $100-million fund raising by year-end.?
Aavishkaar Goodwell II is domiciled under the laws of Mauritius but will target microfinance companies located in India. ?We have invested in microfinance companies such as Share Microfinance, Equitas, Basix, Grameen Koota, Utkarsh Microfinance, Suryoday Microfinance and Belstar Microfinance from our first round fund,? he pointed out.
He said the fund will invest anywhere between a minimum of Rs 2 crore to a maximum of Rs 15 crore into a microfinance company.