Arohan Financial Services is a leading microfinance institution in India serving around two million clients of which more than 98 per cent are women. The company’s activities are spread across 15 states and 250 districts.
The capital from the new investors including IFU will be utilized to expand the footprint and increase the impact by reaching out to poor and vulnerable clients with no previous access to credit, amongst other things.
“We are very pleased to become an investor in Arohan, together with two likeminded co-investors FMO and Nuveen and very experienced partners. The company is a leading microfinance institution in India that has had a focus on rural population, states with low financial inclusion, hence creating a strong impact. We believe that our investment can enable Arohan to further strengthen its impact by assisting even more people in India in augmenting their income and enhancing their lives” said Deepa Hingorani, Senior Vice President of IFU.
“We at Arohan are delighted to welcome IFU as an investor. Being part of the Aavishkaar Group, our focus is on being an IT enabled, differentiated MFI with a strong focus on ESG. With COVID clearly behind us, we look forward to scaling the business over the next few years in this priority area for the country.” said Manoj Kumar Nambiar, MD Arohan
Focus on the green transition
Arohan Vision 2027 is “to impact 20 million lives” through its business initiatives. The ambitious impact is being delivered through “Arohan Privilege”, a first in the sector digital lending platform for microfinance borrowers that makes it future ready. Moreover, the company will initiate the development of a climate strategy, which will include initiatives around products targeting access to water & sanitation, home light appliances and insurance in relation to climate resilience matters, for example.
“IFU has a strong focus on creating just and inclusive societies, while promoting green transition. Therefore, we look forward to working together with Arohan in integrating products and services, within its investment strategy that can assist clients in investing in climate smart products and services as well as improve their resilience towards climate change, said Nitish Chawla, Senior Investment Manager, IFU.
IFU invests on behalf of the Danish SDG Investment Fund
The investment in Arohan is made on behalf of the Danish SDG Investment Fund, which is a DKK 5 billion public private partnership backed by large Danish pension funds and private investors.