Proparco, the French development financial institution, has invested ₹12.5 crore in financial inclusion platform IFMR Holdings, which will use the money to fuel its expansion plans and support downstream companies. IFMR had raised ₹168 crore in August 2015 from Accion, a global non-profit organisation that supports financial inclusion, LeapFrog Investments, a specialist investor in emerging market financial services, and Lok Capital, an impact investment VC firm.

IFMR Holdings clocked revenues of ₹213 crore in FY2015 and together with its group companies, has impacted over 17 million financially excluded individuals across the country.

It invests in, incubates and operates financial inclusion enterprises in the country. The companies that operate under the IFMR Holdings umbrella include IFMR Capital, IFMR Rural Finance and IFMR Rural Channels, all of which work towards financial inclusion of individuals and enterprises.

While IFMR Capital is a debt financing platform, IFMR Rural Finance is a technology licensor for banks and NBFCs to set up operations in rural and remote areas. IFMR Rural Channels provides a range of financial products and services and has a network of 237 branches in Tamil Nadu, Odisha and Uttarakhand.

comment COMMENT NOW