Investing in Women (IW) has established investment vehicles with four reputable global impact investors with ties in South East Asia: Capital 4 Development Partners (C4D Partners), Patamar Capital, Root Capital and the Small Enterprise Assistance Funds (SEAF).
IW commissioned Ernst & Young Australia to present case studies on the partnerships. The reports provide an overview of the program’s blended finance structures with these partners, highlights their achievements, and discusses key learnings in mobilising more capital for women’s SMEs.
Capital 4 Development Partners
Established in 2013, C4D Partners is an initiative of the Interchurch Organisation for Development Cooperation (ICCO), a global leading non-governmental organisation with over 50 years of development finance experience. Following a management buyout in 2018, C4D Partners now operates as an independent global impact investment manager.
C4D Partners is committed to investing with a gender lens and plans to invest at least 30% of its C4D Asia Fund in women’s SMEs. To access the case study with C4D Partners, follow this link.
Patamar Capital
Patamar is a social venture capital firm with a mission to unlock better economic opportunities for Asia’s low-income communities. The firm aims for superior returns for its partners by investing in and supporting early-stage, high-growth companies in solving some of South and South East Asia’s most pervasive problems at scale.
In partnership with IW, Patamar Capital has invested in women’s SMEs and incorporated a gender lens through its Accelerator Program. You may download the Patamar case study from this link.
Root Capital
Root Capital is a US based non-profit global impact investment manager and accelerator of small and growing agricultural enterprises in Africa, Latin America and South East Asia that provides loans and advisory services to investee companies. As a pioneering agricultural gender-lens investor, Root Capital prioritises opportunities to target SMEs that engage women as enterprise leaders, employees and farmers.
For an overview of IW’s partnership with Root Capital, download the case study.
Small Enterprise Assistance Funds
SEAF is an investment management group that provides growth capital and business assistance to SMEs in emerging and transition markets underserved by traditional sources of capital. Through its network of offices around the world, SEAF invests in entrepreneurs that seek to build successful businesses, aiming to realise both attractive returns for investors and a measurable development impact in local communities.
In partnership with IW, to direct investment towards women’s SMEs, SEAF has established the SEAF Women’s Opportunity Fund and developed a proprietary Gender Equality Scorecard to assess women’s economic empowerment and gender equality within an individual investment.
For a report on the progress and key learnings of IW’s partnership with SEAF, follow this link.
All reports prepared by Ernst & Young Australia for Investment in Women. Learn more about impact investing on the IW website.