Annapurna Finance has raised $30 million as primary equity from Nuveen Global Impact. This raise will help the MFI in expanding its microfinance portfolio by extending micro-credits to women members of self-help groups (SHGs) and Joint Liability Groups (JLGs) along with re-engineering and digitising business processes to better serve its clients. Unitus Capital has been the sole advisor throughout the fund-raising process.
Gobinda Chandra Pattnaik, Managing Director at Annapurna Finance Private Limited, said: “We are delighted to have received financial backing from a leading global investor like Nuveen. Over the last decade we have dedicated our efforts to support rural entrepreneurs with their financial needs and we are proud to have helped so many individuals across India. Nuveen’s expertise and funding will help us meet our expansion plans and we look forward to working with them to develop our climate initiatives.”
Radhika Shroff, Managing Director, Private Impact Investing at Nuveen, said: “We have tracked Annapurna’s progress as a trail blazing MFI in India, helping women entrepreneurs grow their businesses and successfully supporting its clients through the COVID 19 pandemic, and are delighted to partner with the Company to help drive its future strategy of growth, product expansion and innovation.”
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Based in the Eastern Indian state of Odisha, Annapurna’s operates in 313 districts across 18 states serving 1.8 million of clients, the majority of which are women. With almost 850 branches, 85% of Annapurna’s borrowers operate their businesses in rural areas. The Company’s existing investors include Asian Development Bank, SIDBI, Oman India Joint Investment Fund, Belgian Investment Organization, SIDBI Venture Capital, DCB Bank, Oiko Credit, Women’s World banking and Bamboo Capital Partners.
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