Microlender Annapurna Finance on Tuesday announced that it has garnered $30 million in a fresh funding round
led by impact investor Nuveen Global Impact Strategy.
As part of the transaction, Nuveen has acquired a significant minority stake in Annapurna.
The company will use the funding to expand credit portfolio to women borrowers under the joint liability group and
self help group model, it said in a statement. The funds will also be used for re-engineering and digitising business
processes.
“Over the last decade we have dedicated our efforts to support rural entrepreneurs with their financial needs and we
are proud to have helped so many individuals across India. Nuveen’s expertise and funding will help us meet our
expansion plans and we look forward to working with them to develop our climate initiatives,” Gobinda Chandra
Pattnaik, Managing Director at Annapurna Finance Private Limited, said.
Odisha-based Annapurna operates in 313 districts across 18 states serving 1.8 million of clients, the majority of
which are women. In addition to group loan products, Annapurna Finance has individual loan products, products
and services that support safe water and sanitation, consumer durables and environment friendly strategies.
Annapurna Finance has also diversified its portfolio in MSME finance and the affordable housing segment,
operating across 110 branches serving 20 thousand clients.
The company’s existing investors include Asian Development Bank, SIDBI, Oman India Joint Investment Fund,
Belgian Investment Organization, SIDBI Venture Capital, DCB Bank, Oiko Credit, Women’s World banking and
Bamboo Capital Partners.
Unitus Capital has been the sole advisor throughout the fund-raising process.
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