ACCION International (through its Gateway Fund), the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and the Unitus Equity Fund (UEF) announced investments in Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited, a microfinance institution (MFI) operating in the slums of Mumbai. The promoters of Swadhaar FinServe, Veena Mankar and Haseena Vahanvaty, bring together a unique blend of professional financial sector expertise and hands-on developmental sector experience.

Swadhaar Finserve will purchase the business of Swadhaar FinAccess, a non-profit MFI set up by the same promoter group in 2006 to pilot financial products and services for urban slums. The Unitus Equity Fund, a private equity fund managed by Elevar Equity LLC, and the Dell family foundation have both supported Swadhaar FinAccess in the past. Swadhaar FinServe will leverage the investment to substantially scale up its individual lending product, tested and suitably modified for the urban markets in India through technical assistance provided by ACCION, and aims to serve over 100,000 clients in India. Veena Mankar, who was the managing director of a leading independent company in India before she decided to pursue her interests in microfinance and community development, commented that there have been limited attempts at introducing large-scale, individual lending models in the Indian microfinance sector. She added that they are now confident of expanding their operations beyond Mumbai into other urban centres in India.

“Swadhaar has continually experimented with new technologies and products to lower transaction costs and better serve the needs of its clients,” said María Otero, president and CEO of ACCION. “Our 20 percent investment is a symbol of our confidence that Swadhaar will continue to serve its clients in new and beneficial ways, and is a demonstration of our commitment to rapidly expanding microfinance for the benefit of India’s urban poor.”

“We are committed to working with organizations like Swadhaar to achieve scale and sustainability and provide market-based products and services to the underserved,” says Sandeep Farias, Managing Partner of UEF.

“Swadhaar means ‘self-support’ in Hindi, and the organization’s name is reflective of what Swadhaar enables its clients to do,” said Janet Mountain, executive director of the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation. “Providing microfinance services to the urban poor is really about helping urban families in India have the economic stability to break out of the cycle of poverty and leads to better health and education for their children. We are proud to be a part of an organization that is truly transforming lives.”

The investment by ACCION, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation and UEF is part of a first round of capital investment in Swadhaar FinServe totaling $3 million. Other investors include the organization’s founders, an Indian family trust and private investors. Unitus Capital, a financial advisory firm that helps companies that benefit the bottom of the pyramid, served as Swadhaar’s financial advisor. Amarchand Mangaldas acted as Swadhaar’s legal counsel.

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About Swadhaar

Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited (Swadhaar) is a new Non Banking Finance Company (NBFC) set up with a focus on providing microfinance services for the urban poor and micro entrepreneurs. Swadhaar means ‘self help’ or ‘self support’. Swadhaar’s objective is - To make available regular, reliable and efficient financial services to the economically active urban poor, enabling them to overcome poverty and meet their aspirations for a better and secure future. Swadhaar’s target clients are both men and women, who have limited or no access to such services from the formal financial sector. Starting with several outlets in Mumbai, it plans to extend operations to other cities beginning next year.

About ACCION

ACCION International is a private, nonprofit organization with the mission of giving people the financial tools they need – microenterprise loans, business training and other financial services – to work their way out of poverty. A world pioneer in microfinance, ACCION was founded in 1961 and issued its first microloan in 1973 in Brazil. ACCION International’s partner microfinance institutions today are providing loans as low as $100 to poor men and women entrepreneurs in 25 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and the United States. In the last decade alone, ACCION partners have disbursed more than 22.4 million loans totaling $17.4 billion; 97 percent of the loans have been repaid. Selected for the fifth consecutive year for its pioneering approaches to poverty alleviation, ACCION was among 45 organizations awarded the 2008 Social Capitalist Award by Fast Company Magazine/Monitor Group. ACCION has also been awarded Charity Navigator’s highest rating – four stars – for efficiency and sound fiscal management, for the second consecutive year. For more information, visit www.accion.org.

About the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation

The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. With offices in Austin, TX and New Delhi, India, the Dell family foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood health, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty. With an endowment of $1.3 billion, the foundation has committed almost $450 million to global children’s issues and community initiatives to date. The foundation has committed $7 million to date to help poor families in India achieve economic stability. EDITOR’S NOTE: The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is separate and distinct from the Dell Foundation. In first reference, please use 'The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.' For second references, 'the Dell family foundation' is correct.

About the Unitus Equity Fund

The Unitus Equity Fund, managed by Elevar Equity LLC, is a global growth private equity fund focused on the underserved 4 billion in developing countries. The fund intends to bridge the gap between these underserved communities and global capital, helping to create a virtuous cycle of opportunity based on open access for all. It will provide equity capital to high growth microfinance institutions and to social entrepreneurs. UEF has an investment portfolio of eight microfinance institutions across India, Mexico and Brazil, as well as in a social enterprise operating India’s largest network of Rural Business Centers. Elevar Equity’s Managing Directors, Chris Brookfield, Maya Chorengel, Johanna Posada and Sandeep Farias, bring together over 45 years of investing experience and extensive knowledge of the microfinance and social enterprise sectors. UEF is a strategic affiliate of Unitus an international nonprofit organization. For more information, please visit http://www.unitusequityfund.com.

About Unitus Capital (UC)

Unitus Capital provides financial advisory services to microfinance institutions (MFIs) and other companies that benefit the poor. UC’s services include arrangement of debt and equity private placements, structured products such as off-balance sheet financings and strategic financial advisory services. UC is a strategic affiliate of Unitus Inc., an international non-profit organization, which has worked since 2001 to reduce global poverty by increasing access to life-changing microfinance services.UC was launched in July 2008 with funding from leading private investors.