Aavishkaar Goodwell funds have exited their stake in Suryoday Micro Finance. Aavishkaar Goodwell had invested a total of ₹38.5 crore through two of its funds, in March 2009 and June 2012, for a 23 per cent stake in Suryoday. The exit happened in parallel to a fresh fund raise of about ₹100 crore by Suryoday.

It raised the money from domestic investors, including IDFC Bank, ASK Group, some family offices and existing investor HDFC Life.

New investors

The Aavishkaar Goodwell funds sold their stake to responsAbility, Gaja Capital, Evolvence and Americorp Group.

Suryoday was raising money, and it made sense to align the company’s growth plans for the next 3-4 years to new investors, explained Aavishkaar.

Aavishkaar is an impact investment fund and Goodwell Investments provides early-stage growth capital.

The two jointly manage Aavishkaar Goodwell Fund I and II, which are invested in micro-finance and financial inclusion companies in India.

Incorporated in 2008, Suryoday got the RBI’s nod to become a non-banking finance company in 2009. It has raised four rounds of funding, and the investors include Aavishkaar Goodwell, Lok Capital, HDFC Holdings, HDFC Life, IFC and Developing World Markets.

An Aavishkaar press release quoted Wim van der Beek, Co-managing Partner of the Aavishkaar Goodwell funds, as saying: “With a loyal client base, solid organisation, strong team and a fresh capital raise of $15 million (₹100 crore) — which our exit happened in parallel to — Suryoday is ready to grow into a next-generation inclusive bank that serves a broader under-served client base with a much wider range of financial products.”

Suryoday has a cumulative disbursement of 2,980 crore, a gross loan portfolio of ₹1,052 crore and 6.98 lakh active customers.

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