Mauritius based venture fund Lok Capital LLC has invested $1.5 million in Asirvad Microfinance Pvt Ltd. Asirvad is a Chennai based MFI focused on providing financial services to poor women in Tamil Nadu. It plans to utilise the amount to strengthen its presence in Tamil Nadu and expand further in other states of India.
Venky Natarajan, MD, Lok Advisory Services stated that the company finds Asirvad very attractive to invest in because of its proven track record.
While SV Raja Vaidyanathan, non-executive Chairman, Asirvad said that the investment will add more value to Asirvad and help it go a long way in adopting best in class practices in all areas of its management.
Asirvad was formed in 2007 and in two years time it got over 75,000 borrowers with a portfolio amount of over $4.6 million. It plans to finance around one million low-income families by 2015 to help eradicate poverty through viable income generation activities. Asirvad uses mobile based MIS platform to strengthen its productivity in MFI space.
Lok Capital LLC is a $22 million venture capital fund and invests in commercially viable microfinance institutions in India. In India, the fund is advised by Delhi based firm Lok Advisory Services. Lok Capital has already invested in several MFI’s in India including Spandana, Basix and Ujjivan. In 2007, it has invested $2.25 million in Spandana, while the deal size of other two investments were not known.
