March 2021 - IIX - Impact Investment Exchange

IIX 12 Year Anniversary: Building Relief, Recovery, and Resilience

March 25, 2021 IIX Anniversary, News, Women Empowerment

#BUILDINGBACKBETTER THROUGH RECOVERY

As we celebrate IIX’s 12th anniversary, we would like to share how we are building a new era of growth through three pillars: Relief, Recovery, and Resilience.

Businesses must not just survive the pandemic, but recover and have a lifeline to pivot their businesses so they’re able to adapt and thrive in the new norm. In addition to providing catalytic capital, capacity building and tools to adapt are necessary to ensure the capital is put to good use and help SMEs navigate through the challenging environment. To overcome the disadvantages faced by SMEs, it is pertinent for stakeholders to provide handholding support and lend women entrepreneurs a platform to relaunch and access national and international markets. Leveraging insights garnered from working with women entrepreneurs, IIX developed tailored toolkits and platforms across the growth stages of an enterprise that help them rebuild, pivot, and strengthen their business operations for a new business and economic environment.

IIX 12 Year Anniversary: Building Relief, Recovery, and Resilience

March 22, 2021 IIX Anniversary, News, Women Empowerment

#BUILDINGBACKBETTER THROUGH RESILIENCE

As we celebrate IIX’s 12th anniversary, we would like to share how we are building a new era of growth through three pillars: Relief, Recovery, and Resilience.

Catalytic capital allows women entrepreneurs to survive natural shocks such as the on-going pandemic. However, it is important to have a resilient enterprise contributing to the economy’s growth and maximizing its impact on underserved communities, which an emergency capital infusion by itself cannot solve. The final stage of achieving gender equality is creating resilient enterprises by providing capital at timely intervals such that they can scale rapidly.

IIX 12 Year Anniversary: Building Relief, Recovery, and Resilience

March 22, 2021 IIX Anniversary, News, Women Empowerment

#BUILDINGBACKBETTER THROUGH RELIEF

The pandemic has increased and will continue to increase the stress on the already fragile healthcare, education, and financial infrastructure which has affected the livelihoods of more than 65% of the rural population and over 100 million entrepreneurs just within Asia. Affordable healthcare, inclusive education, and social equality form the backbone of a resilient economy and have the power to catalyze recovery if we step up.

As we celebrate IIX’s 12th anniversary, we would like to share how we are building a new era of growth through three pillars: Relief, Recovery, and Resilience.

The first step to #BuildingBackBetter is to ensure that SMEs survive the pandemic through immediate relief. From there, we can accelerate recovery through new financial instruments, and build true resilience by bringing women and ethnic minorities to the forefront of post-COVID growth.

Without supporting these SMEs, the world stands to suffer major setbacks in social and economic progress. However, with the right support, we can accelerate inclusive finance to sustain these businesses and enable them to rebuild the economy from the ground up.

In the coming year, IIX is excited to share new initiatives to drive urgently needed capital to SMEs, so that they can become engines of growth. Read on to learn more about IIX’s newly launched Emergency Financing Facility, and the story of one enterprise who, because of access to financing from the IEFF, will be able to help to provide livelihoods to women and farmers in Indonesia.

Pakistan-based healthtech firm Sehat Kahani lands $1m in pre-series A round – Tech In Asia

March 16, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Pakistan-based healthtech firm Sehat Kahani announced it has raised US$1 million in its pre-series A round from investors including the Islamic Development bank, 10Pearls Ventures, Mentors Fund, Korean Impact Collective Funds, and Impact Investment Exchange.

The round also saw participation from the Pakistan-based KASB Group of Companies and Din Group, along with other angel investors.

Sehat Kahani was launched in 2017 as a chain of telemedicine-enabled e-health clinics in underserved communities. Since then, its platform has been used by banks, insurance companies, telecom firms, media houses, pharmaceuticals, and fast-moving consumer goods companies. The firm also serves patients in far-flung areas through small nurse-assisted e-health clinics. READ MORE

Pakistan’s Sehat Kahani raises $1 million Pre-Series A to grow its telemedicine network – MENABytes

March 16, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Karachi-headquartered telemedicine startup Sehat Kahani has raised $1 million in a Pre-Series A round, it announced today. The investment came from Islamic Development Bank, 10Pearls Ventures, Mentors Fund, Singapore-based Korean Impact Fund, and Impact Investment Exchange. KASB Securities, Din Group, and some angels also joined the round

Founded in 2017 by two female doctors, Sara Saeed Khurram and Iffat Zafar Aga, Sehat Kahani had started as a network to connect home-based female doctors to patients through telemedicine-enabled brick and mortar health clinics. The idea was to use a large number of female doctors who due to family commitments are unable to practice medicine at a hospital or clinic and connect them with patients in underserved communities through a network of nurse-assisted health clinics. READ MORE

SBP takes necessary steps to promote tech startups – The News International

March 16, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

The State Bank of Pakistan is taking all necessary initiatives to provide an enabling environment for the information and technology startups and women financial inclusion, the central bank’s governor said on Monday.

“The SBP is working on gender mainstreaming policy titled ‘Banking on Equality: Reducing the Gender Gap in Financial Inclusion’.

The proposed policy aims to introduce a gender lens within the financial sector through identified pillars and specific measures, to bring a shift towards women friendly business practices,” the SBP’s Governor Reza Baqir said at an event organised by Sehat Kahani, a telemedicine startup that has raised $1 million in a Pre-Series A round. READ MORE

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs – Latestly

March 10, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India. This sustainable investment fund will be disbursed via Kinara Capital’s established HerVikas discounted loan program to an estimated 2500+ women-owned small businesses. The expected impact of the partnership between IIX and Kinara Capital will generate an incremental income of INR 320 crores for women entrepreneurs. READ MORE

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs – MRT

March 10, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India.
This sustainable investment fund will be disbursed via Kinara Capital’s established HerVikas discounted loan program to an estimated 2500+ women-owned small businesses. The expected impact of the partnership between IIX and Kinara Capital will generate an incremental income of INR 320 crores for women entrepreneurs. READ MORE

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs – IT News Online

March 10, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India. This sustainable investment fund will be disbursed via Kinara Capital’s established HerVikas discounted loan program to an estimated 2500+ women-owned small businesses. The expected impact of the partnership between IIX and Kinara Capital will generate an incremental income of INR 320 crores for women entrepreneurs. READ MORE

Kinara Capital Secures INR 52 Crores from IIX’s Women’s Livelihood Bond Series for HerVikas Discounted Loan Program for Women Entrepreneurs – Lokmat English

March 10, 2021 News, SDGs, Women Empowerment

Kinara Capital, a leading socially responsible fintech driving MSME financial inclusion, today announced securing INR 52 crores from Impact Investment Exchange (IIX) for the advancement of women entrepreneurs in India. READ MORE

Archive for March, 2021