Annapurna Finance has raised Rs 137 crore as primary equity investment from the Asian Development Bank (ADB) which will allow the MFI to expand its micro-finance portfolio by extending micro-credits to women members of Joint Liability Groups (JLGs).
Along with this primary, another Rs 75 crore of secondary round also happened where existing investors of the company OIJIF, Oikocredit and Bamboo Finance bought shares from early stage investors Incofin Investment and SIDBI Venture capital’s Samriddhi fund.
“Women, particularly in the rural areas in India, still have difficulty in accessing capital, which limits their potential and prevents them from contributing significantly to inclusive and sustainable growth,” said Paul Flegler, ADB’s Principal Investment Specialist for Private Sector Operations.
The ADB’s support to Annapurna will expand its lending portfolio, helping ensure that rural women and micro and small enterprises needing capital can have better access to finance, he added.
Annapurna based in Bhubaneswar has a wide area of micro-finance operations in 277 districts across 14 states serving 1.4 million of clients, most of which are women. With a network of closely 500 branches, Annapurna has 85 per cent of its borrowers from rural India. The company’s existing investors include SIDBI, INCOFIN, OIJIF, Belgian Investment Organization, SIDBI Venture Capital, DCB Bank, Oiko Credit, Women’s World banking (WWB) and Bamboo Capital Partners.(UNI)
