Swiss impact investor Blue Earth Capital has acquired a part of British International Investment’s (BII) stake in India-based Aavishkaar Capital’s microfinance fund, according to an announcement.
The Aavishkaar Goodwell India Microfinance Development Company II is an equity fund focused on microfinance companies and adjacent sectors in India such as housing businesses and technology-based systems for financial inclusion.
Blue Earth Capital has also acquired the UK-based development finance institution’s stake in Africa-focused Novastar Ventures Africa Fund II and Adenia Capital Fund IV, per a release.
“BII took the initial investment risk, and BlueEarth is providing access to its clientele via a diversified portfolio of high-quality impact assets in emerging markets. Alignment with BII comes down to a shared belief in an impact mandate to help solve the most pressing global development challenges by investing to support private sector growth and innovation,” said Nicolas Muller, Managing Director at BlueEarth.
BII invested in Aavishkaar’s fund in 2012. The fund has backed companies including Arohan Financial Services, Suryoday Small Finance Bank, Utkarsh Small Finance Bank, IntelleCash, and Swarna Pragati.
Founded in 2001, Aavishkaar Capital invests in early-growth stage enterprises in India, focusing on financial inclusion, food and agriculture, and essential services. Over the years, the firm’s investment strategy has evolved to include Emerging Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa.
Aavishkaar Capital closed its sixth India fund at a corpus of $150 million in November last year. Going forward, the firm plans to make eight investments by March 2024, thereby deploying over 30% of the $150-million corpus.
Blue Earth Capital is a global specialist impact investor headquartered in Switzerland, with operations in New York, London, and Konstanz. Asia makes up 31% of its $579-million total capital committed as of 2022, per its June 2023 report.
In July last year, it committed $17 million to funds managed by Quadria Capital, the Singapore-headquartered PE firm looking to raise $800 million for its third fund.
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