Timely access to finance is a key component of inclusive growth. It is vital that entrepreneurs in rural and semi-urban areas across India have access to funds when they urgently require it.

CSO Partners has helped set up a social venture capital fund for the employees of ICICI Ventures, to provide credit to micro businesses that do not have easy access to finance.  CSO Partners strategised and designed the programme in such a way that it brought value to both the corporate entity and the community.

Benefits to the corporate entity

• Building capability of employees to understand and serve bottom-of-pyramid (BoP) businesses
• Understanding of venture capital funding for grass root level organisations
• Employee engagement
• Positive brand building: Supporting and investing micro businesses and BoP innovations would help distinguish ICICI Venture in the minds of consumer, helping it gain a strategic advantage

Benefits to the community

• Entrepreneurs supported via this project are from low-income households in rural and semi urban areas, where access to finances at competitive rates is low and difficult
• Entrepreneurs get access to finance at reasonable rates that were hitherto unavailable to them
• Social impact in terms of lives impacted, livelihood generated, as well as impact on the borrower’s income

CSO Partners also devised the partnership strategy and brought organisations together to implement and monitor the programme.

• Rang De is the anchoring organisation that provides the platform for bringing in the investor and investee; keeping track of the repayments; assessing and sharing social impact evaluation.
• IFMR Trust will identify suitable micro entrepreneurs and provide ongoing support to them.