Tag: india

Two New Partners Join SPMIP

May 26, 2010 Press Release

Unitus Announces Grama Vidiyal, AMK as Latest Partners in Social Performance Management Implementation Project Indian, Cambodian Institutions Join Effort to Maximize Effectiveness of Microfinance BANGALORE, 26 May 2010 — In keeping with its goal of bringing greater effectiveness to the work of microfinance institutions (MFIs) worldwide, global nonprofit Unitus, Inc. proudly announces today the signing of… Read more >

Equitas Program Empowers the Differently Abled

May 1, 2010 Update

Believing a physical challenge should not automatically create a financial one, Indian partner Equitas launched a program in late 2008 to encourage participation by the differently abled in local microfinance activities. A year later, after putting aside traditional notions of their role in their communities, a representative sample of differently abled Equitas members in Chennai… Read more >

Unitus & GV Healthcare Study Highlighted in Microfinance Focus

March 9, 2010 Media Exposure

Unitus, GV Study Debunks Myths and Finds Potential Solutions for Improving Healthcare for the Poor From Microfinance Focus, Study by Unitus, Grama Vidiyal Microfinance shows prospects for financial prodcuts to meet healthcare needs, by Nagesh Narayana. “Increasingly microfinance institutions (MFIs) are realizing the need to go beyond Micro-Credit, like providing divergent financial products to address the small… Read more >

Samhita Wins Unitus Acceleration Award

February 1, 2010 Update

We are pleased to announce that Samhita Community Development Services, a Unitus MFI partner since January 2008, was awarded the 3rd Annual Unitus Acceleration Award. The award was presented at the recent Unitus Leadership Summit in Mussoorie, India. Each year, Unitus presents the Acceleration Award to a partner who best exemplifies the goal of accelerating… Read more >

Interview with Samit Ghosh, Microfinance Innovator

February 1, 2010 Update

Ujjivan, a Unitus partner since 2006, is an MFI providing financial services to the economically active urban and semi-urban poor in India. Since their launch in November 2005, they’ve reached more than 550,000 clients with a diverse range of financial products and services. In October 2009, Unitus sat down with Mr. Samit Ghosh, founder and… Read more >

Ujjivan Joins as First Partner in SMPIP

November 5, 2009 Press Release

India’s Ujjivan Announced as First MFI Partner for Unitus’s Social Performance Management Implementation Project Partnership provides expertise, resources necessary to integrate SPM tools into Ujjivan operations BANGALORE & SEATTLE, 5 November 2009 — In its continuing efforts to improve the effectiveness of life-changing microfinance services, Unitus Labs. is proud to announce that India’s Ujjivan has been… Read more >

Innovation in Action: Equitas

September 1, 2009 Update

A Unitus partner since September 2007, Equitas based in Chennai, India, is one of the fastest-growing MFIs in India. In just over 20 months of operations, the young MFI has reached more than 500,000 clients. The bedrock of Equitas’s scalability is its approach of delivering efficient back-office support to its branch teams. Equitas has established a… Read more >

Tamil Nadu MFI Gets $4.25M From MicroVest, UEF, Vinod Khosla

June 23, 2009 Media Exposure

Grama Vidiyal Micro Finance Limited (GVMFL), a Tamil Nadu based microfinance institution, has raised $4.25 million from MicroVest and its existing investor Unitus Equity Fund in its second round of fundraising. Vinod Khosla, who had also invested in the first round of funding of GVMFL, has invested in this round too, through his non profit private… Read more >

Grama Vidiyal Raises $4 million of Equity

June 16, 2009 Press Release

Grama Vidiyal raises over USD 4 million of equity capital, the first equity investment in India in 2009 Tamil Nadu, India-based microfinance institution successfully completes second round of equity infusion from MicroVest, Unitus Equity Fund I (UEFI) and Amar Foundation. Tamil Nadu, India June 16, 2009: Grama Vidiyal Microfinance Private Ltd (GVMFL) is pleased to… Read more >

Announcing NIS Sparta Partnership to Create Training Program

June 9, 2009 Press Release

Unitus and NIS Sparta Partner to Create Microfinance Management Training Program Unitus and NIS Sparta Partner to Create Breakthrough Management Training Program to Support Next Generation of Microfinance Leaders Seattle, WA and New Delhi, India, 9 June 2009 — Unitus, Inc., an international nonprofit organization dedicated to reducing global poverty by accelerating access to microfinance,… Read more >

Financial Literacy for the Working Poor

June 1, 2009 Update

Swadhaar FinAccess was founded with the goal of providing the urban poor in Mumbai increased access to regular, reliable, and efficient financial services in a sustainable and scalable manner, and became a Unitus partner in 2006. In 2008, the organization launched Swadhaar FinServe Pvt. Ltd.—an NBFC (Non-Banking Financial Company)—to take over microfinance operations, which has… Read more >

Samhita CEO Recognized for Achievement

March 1, 2009 Update

Praseeda Kunam, CEO of Samhita Microfinance (a Unitus MFI partner since 2007), was recently honored with an Indian Women Achievers Award for her role in providing economic and health services to disadvantaged women. Organized by FICCI Ladies Organization (Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry), the event recognized women from a variety of fields… Read more >