Unitus Inc, a non profit organisation that works in the area of microfinance, has appointed Travelguru co-founder Ganesh Rengaswamy as its India Country Director. In his new role, Rengaswamy will head Unitus’s India microfinance initiatives, will manage the team of consultants, advice Unitus microfinance partners and serve on the global senior management team.
Prior to joining Unitus, Rengaswamy co-founded Travelguru, a travel portal for holidays and vacations in India and south Asia. He also launched the India investment for Greylock Partners, a venture capital firm in the US. Before Greylock, Rengaswamy worked at Infosys Technologies, where he managed mission-critical engagements for Fortune 500 clients and lead $100 million customer acquisition programs. Prior to this, he managed a private investment fund.
He holds a bachelor’s degree in engineering from IIT- BHU (Banaras Hindu University) and a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard Business School. He also holds a graduate degree in finance and systems strategy from IIM-Calcutta.
Unitus focuses on the reduction of poverty across the globe by accelerating growth of microfinance. The organization has partnered with various microfinance institutions (MFIs) in India such as Equitas, Ujjivan, Samahita, MokshaYug Access, Mimo finance and BSS among others.
Unitus also operates a financial advisory firm- Unitus Capital as its strategic affiliate, which it launched last year. Unitus Capital arranges capital for MFIs and social enterprises which serve bottom of the pyramid customers.
Its other strategic affiliates are Unitus Equity fund and Unitus Investment group. While Unitus Equity fund is a 100% privately funded equity fund active in the microfinance industry, Unitus Investment group would launch a group of commercially-oriented funds and companies that will invest in the broader delivery of financial services and related products for the economically weaker sections across the world.
The group pf companies launched by Unitus Investment Group will include private equity funds, debt funds, and other financial vehicles, as well as potential operating companies that would serve the bottom of the pyramid customers.
