Milaap Social Ventures, South Asia’s leading, impact-focused fundraising platform, announced on Friday that it has raised an additional INR 6.6 crore (USD$1.1 million) in venture funding. Investors included Jungle Ventures,Toivo Annus, LionRock, Jayesh Parekh & Unitus Seed Fund. Milaap enables any one in the world to engage in microfinance by lending as little as $25 to India’s working poor.
The new funding will be utilized to enhance the online product experience, expand marketing outreach, and scale operations. Prior to this investment Milaap raised INR 1.5 crore (USD$250,000) in seed investments from Unitus Seed Fund, First Light Ventures, Vijay Shekhar Sharma and Rajiv Madhok.
Milaap Social Ventures aims to help the more than 48 crore (480 million) Indians mostly living in the rural and semi-urban areas and who are outside of the formal banking system to procure reasonably-priced, life-improving loans for their small businesses, vocational training, or other essential household needs.
To date, Milaap has raised over INR 4.7 crore (USD$800,000) in loans impacting over 25,000 lives across 10 states in India. These funds have provided better school infrastructure, employment-linked training for the youth, seed capital for small businesses, access to clean water, and safe lighting for families.
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