~Grameen Koota, a Bangalore-based microfinance firm, has raised Rs.250 crore from its holding company, CreditAccess Asia (CAA), headquartered in Amsterdam, to support its growth~
Bangalore, Karnataka, India, 30 March 2017/Businesswire India//– Grameen Koota Financial Services Private Limited (Grameen Koota) has raised Rs.250 Cr. from its holding company, CreditAccess Asia (CAA), headquartered in Amsterdam, which is the leading multi-country Microfinance operator in India and South-East Asia. Part of the infusion, Rs.50 crore, will be provided in the form of equity and the remainder, Rs.200 crore will be provided in the form of Compulsory Convertible Debentures (CCDs).
The investment will support Grameen Koota in its planned expansion and portfolio growth, and its efforts in increasing financial inclusion, through its local operations, across the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Grameen Koota has recently initiated a new business line for Enterprise Loans (individual loans) for its graduated women borrowers to enhance their business.
“We are quite excited with this fresh infusion of capital from CreditAccess Asia, who have always been very supportive. This infusion will significantly enhance our abilities to expand financial inclusion to more customers who have little or no access to formal source of credit”, said Udaya Kumar, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Grameen Koota.
Chief Executive Officer of CAA, Paolo Brichetti said: “We are very happy to provide Grameen Koota, our flagship operating company, the capital they need to enable them to further increase financial inclusion, within the unbanked sector of India, by offering fair and stable access to credit and other financial services. We are confident in the growth prospects of the company and we look forward to continue working with Udaya Kumar and the management team to drive Grameen Koota’s success in this sector.”
With an outstanding portfolio of Rs.3,065 crore and serving over 1.6 million customers, Grameen Koota has been given the top industry grading of ‘mfR1’ by CRISIL and its long-term BASEL and NCD ratings by ICRA is ‘A’. It was also awarded top Microfinance India award in December 2015.
Smart Campaign’s re-certification for upholding client protection principles, social rating of ‘∑α’ by Mcril, code of conduct adherence rating of ‘COCA 1’ by SMERA and the MIX S.T.A.R. MFI recognition validate Grameen Koota’s commitment to social performance, pro-poor business as well as financial and social development goals.
About Grameen Koota
Headquartered in Bangalore, Grameen Koota Financial Services Private Limited (Grameen Koota) is currently operational in five states with 390 branches. Currently, its portfolio size is Rs.3065 Cr with a customer base of over 1.6 mn in the states of Karnataka, Maharashtra, Tamil Nadu, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. Grameen Koota has been in micro-credit operations since 1999 and it is now 4th largest microfinance institution in India. Currently, Grameen Koota provides micro-credits to Joint Liability Groups formed exclusively of women belonging to poor and low-income households by providing them with its diverse financial and developmental services including products for Income Generation and access to Water, Sanitation, Education, Health Care, Home Improvement among others. Grameen Koota recently initiated individual loans for expanding business to the borrowers graduated from Joint Liability Groups. www.grameenkoota.org
About CreditAccess Asia
CreditAccess Asia is an operator of credit institutions in India, Indonesia, and the Philippines, Grameen Koota being the largest institution. Today, its regional companies in Asia have a total portfolio of Rs.3,312 crore (US$496 million) with over 18 lakh clients. CreditAccess Asia companies employ approximately 7,840 people across the world. CreditAccess Asia is committed to support the regional companies with capital to further extend its outreach to unbanked women entrepreneurs in Asia. The focus on the very attractive and fast-growing segment of micro-enterprises that do not have access to local banking services provides significant growth opportunities. www.creditaccess.com.
