Bellwether

First equity investor in some of today’s market leaders including Ujjivan, Jana small finance bank, Equitas.

Incubated startups like Sonata and Arohan in underserved regions.

Bellwether was the first domestic equity fund in India dedicated to providing equity and debt to start up and early stage microfinance institutions in India. It was set up to be a market builder with the single minded focus of catalyzing Microfinance in India at a time when there were fewer than 5 investable entities of very small scale in the sector.

The Fund incubated several start ups in geographically diverse and un/underserved locations – we made 6 start-up investments, 5 Series A investments and 1 Series B investment. The Fund was an early investor in some of today’s market leaders in microfinance. We worked with collaborators – other investors, banks, rating agencies, technical assistance providers, government and regulators – to develop a supportive ecosystem.

Type

Private Equity

Size

INR 800 Mn

Market leadership

First microfinance focused equity fund in india

Status

closed