ACCION Invests in Microfinance Institution in India

ACCION International, a pioneer and leader in global microfinance, announced today that it has invested $500,000 for a 49.5 percent equity stake in Saija Finance Private Limited, a microfinance start-up that provides financial services to microentrepreneurs and low- and middle-income families in one of India’s most underserved regions. The investment was made through ACCION’s equity investment arm, the ACCION Gateway Fund, and represents the fund’s fourth investment in India. Other Gateway investments in India include Swadhaar FinServe, Lok Capital and United Villages.

Based in the city of Patna, state of Bihar, Saija was founded by entrepreneurs and husband and wife team S.R. Sinha and Rashmi Sinha, and currently operates two branches in that city. Registered as a non-banking financial company (NBFC), it is the only Bihar-based microfinance institution, and serves the country’s poorest state. Bihar, with a per capita income of approximately $160, a 90 percent illiteracy rate, and 37 million of its 90 million people living below the poverty line, is one of the most densely populated agglomerations of poor people anywhere in the world, reports the World Bank.

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