India Financial Inclusion Fund (“IFIF”) has affirmed its commitment to infuse capital into one of the microfinance industry’s pioneering bellwethers, Sonata Finance Private Limited (“Sonata”) in the near future. IFIF, set up in August 2008 and advised in India by Caspian Advisors Private Limited (“Caspian”), focuses on making equity investments into microfinance institutions and microfinance enablers in the country that are directly or indirectly associated with bringing about the financial inclusion of the poor and thus further developing a microfinance ecosystem.
A microfinance institution (MFI) that commenced operations in January of 2006 in the eastern part of the Uttar Pradesh state in India, Sonata has in just three years, reached out to nearly 85,000 women clients, in more than 15 districts with a portfolio outstanding of over Rs. 42 crores in loans to the poor.
Sonata is, to date, the only MFI in India to be reporting on its social performance on MiX Market’s Social Performance Standards Report, which analyses MFI’s success in effecting positive changes in the lives of poor clients who have normally not been included in the formal financial system.
S. Viswanatha Prasad, Managing Director of Caspian, says: “Sonata is one of the most impressive and efficient microfinance institutions in the region, both financially and socially. We would like to reiterate our continued support in Sonata’s sustainable financial success, commitment to transparency, and innovative social leadership in the sector and are pleased to partake in the strategic growth of the institution.”
Amongst other mid-sized institutions in the northern region of India, Sonata won the Royal Bank of Scotland’s Microfinance Process Excellence Award in 2008 for its excellence in process optimization and management. In addition, Sonata was previously declared the third fastest growing MFI in Asia by an Asian Development Bank and MiX Market report, securing this position against 392 MFIs who also participated in the study.
Sonata’s CEO, Anup Kumar Singh says: “Apart from all our targets and achievements, we have also matured to a stage that has pushed us to think about how best to take our prospective clients to the next level. Similarly, Caspian – who is intrinsically-linked to Sonata’s foundation – has continued to envision Sonata’s future, supporting our strategic achievements along the way. Our relationship is a great example of qualified-MFI practitioners coming together with a team of people who understand the capital markets, while mutually sharing a compatible social agenda. We hope to take this relationship up to the peak of Himalayas in the years to come.”
Caspian, which also manages the Bellwether Microfinance Fund (“Bellwether”) – India’s first domestic microfinance fund for the private sector – is a Hyderabad-based company that creates investment vehicles by which socially-responsible investors can partake in the development of financial services for the underserved segments of the population.
ABOUT CASPIAN ADVISORS – Caspian Advisors Private Limited (“Caspian”) is an investment management and advisory services company focused on managing and advising investment funds in the Financial Inclusion space. Set up in Hyderabad, India in 2004, Caspian manages Bellwether Microfinance Fund Private Ltd (“Bellwether”) and advises India Financial Inclusion Fund (“IFIF”). For more information on Caspian, please visit our website at http://www.caspian.in.
Source: PR