IFMR Holdings, a financial inclusion platform, has raised ₹12.5 crore from French development financial institution Proparco. It will use the money to strengthen and support downstream companies, increase the range of financial products for people at the bottom of the pyramid and for expanding the business.
According to a press release from IFMR Holdings, it clocked revenues of ₹213 crore in FY2015 and, together with its group companies, impacted over 17 million financially excluded individuals in rural and urban areas.
IFMR Holdings had raised ₹168 crore in August 2015 from Accion, a global non-profit organisation supporting financial inclusion, LeapFrog Investments, a specialist investor in emerging market financial services, and Lok Capital, an impact investment venture capital firm.
Proparco is the private sector financing arm of Agence Francaise de Development and has been supporting development activities in developing and emerging countries for about 40 years.
IFMR Holdings invests in, incubates and operates financial inclusion enterprises. The companies operating under IFMR Holdings include IFMR Capital, which provides debt; IFMR Rural Finance, which is a technology licensor for banks and NBFCs to set up operations in rural and remote areas; and, IFMR Rural Channels, which provides a range of financial products and services in rural areas through 237 branches in Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Uttarakhand.