africa investees asia investees latin america investees investment guidelines our impact our approach to measurement our social impact insights case studies in the news publications & reports photo gallery blog contact data room home who we are meet the team governing board and advisors employment opportunities what we do our investees africa investees asia investees latin america investees investment guidelines our impact our approach to measurement our social impact insights case studies in the news publications & reports photo gallery blog contact data room grassroots business fund novica artisan mayra carries on the weaving tradition of her grandmother what we do new what we do we use business rigor mission history hybrid model portfolio business advisory services bas donors & investors our mission is to grow viable businesses that generate sustainable earnings or savings for people with low incomes in africa asia and latin america please check out our recently released 2015 annual report for a summary of our past year here . our history 2004 gbf began as an initiative of the international finance corporation ifc which piloted grassroots business investments and field tested capacity building approaches . 2008 gbf split from ifc and became an independent non profit which continued investing in and providing advisory services to high impact businesses in latin america asia and africa . gbf also wins the g20 sme challenge . 2011 gbf further evolved its model by establishing a 49m for profit private investment fund gbi i for patient capital investment and raising additional funds for the non profit arm gbp to be used for business advisory services to the fund s portfolio companies . together the fund and non profit make up gbf and provide powerful financial tools and business acumen to help strengthen and grow viable businesses that create lasting impact for low income people around the world . for contributing to the creation of solid sustainable and responsible financial systems gbf wins the idb beyond banking award for best action in socially responsible and or impact investment . read our 2015 annual report for more hybrid model a for profit private investment fund the capital structure of gbi i gbf s for profit private investment fund allows it to make equity mezzanine equity mezzanine debt and straight debt investments . these customized investments help align gbf s overall portfolio performance with each investee s performance . this allows gbf to achieve most of its exits through company cash flows while still receiving upside returns linked to the company s success and addressing investees liquidity concerns . a donor funded non profit organization the grassroots business partners gbf s non profit arm provides fund management services for gbi i provides business advisory services to the fund s investees and works to build the field of impact investing by providing insights on lesson learned impact measurement methodologies and its model . the fund and non profit combine to deliver a blend of capital and support suitable for long term investment in businesses that provide opportunities to low income people . portfolio small businesses play a key role in improving the lives of the poor but there remains a shortage of enterprises in developing countries that are both ready for long term investments and can generate high social impact . gbf invests in high impact businesses which we define as those generating sustainable economic benefits for large numbers of the poor . they tend to have complicated business models and supply chains but are generally underdeveloped in management operations and planning . our model of providing patient capital and business advisory services bas as a hybrid investment helps address the issues facing these businesses by providing long term flexible capital for investment and supporting skill building to improve business growth and increase lasting social impact . investment criteria gbf focuses on for profit companies that have the potential to achieve significant social impact business criteria growth stage companies with a strong track record & competitive advantage with high quality products services . finance criteria investments range from 500 000 to 2.5 m with expected exit within 5 to 7 years of initial investment . mission criteria companies with strong commitment to bringing sustainable social and economic impact to low income communities . impact criteria companies that directly impact 500 individuals with potential to increase 5 to 10 times over the period of investment . see complete investment criteria portfolio performanceas a group our investees are profitable improving business management and growing fast . challenges remain and it is difficult to say which improvements are due to specific gbf activities . gbf s ultimate success will only become clear when the outcomes of our investments come to fruition and we can judge the resulting social impact . already there are signs that our model of risk sharing capital bas and high touch engagement help our clients improve their operations build stronger businesses and create sustained social impact as of march 31 2016 38.3 m capital committed 12m principal & interest received 7.4 % current yield learn more in our 2015 annual report business advisory services bas businesses in emerging markets face big challenges and oftentimes investment alone is not enough to help scale a business . our business advisory services bas are core to gbf s model and have proven valuable to investees . all of our investees receive customized bas support mostly concentrating on strengthening financial management operations and strategy . gbf provides bas for a limited time during the early stages of our engagement with investees . we try to support catalytic bas projects that help our clients grow to scale become commercially sustainable and create social impact . gbf designs executes and monitors bas in conjunction with our investment work . our regional offices lead the efforts to manage and deliver bas both directly and through third party consultants . we have a strong growing network of senior experts and advisers in each of our regions working closely with our investees to build internal capacity and drive high level change programs . these advisers include agribusiness supply chain experts financial managers entrepreneurs investors and other business experts . in addition to our advisers each region has at least one full time portfolio level consultant working closely with investees on narrower issues such as cash flow management environmental certification and risk mitigation . learn more about bas projects in our bas factsheet bas results & impact bas has helped ensure achievement of client growth potential by focusing on business fundamentals anticipating and mitigating key risks and taking advantage of key opportunities . in addition to showing healthy financial performance investees have also on average improved along key business capability dimensions that aid investment success . as of march 2016 83 % of investees now have a skilled manager producing and monitoring operating indicators a 43 % increase for investees in gbf s portfolio over two years 64 % of investees have increased revenues 61 % of investees have increased profitability 89 % of investees have implemented e & s management plans gbf is funded by an active and dedicated group of investors and donors who have helped shape gbf s approach . the list below includes major donors and investors since 2008 . donors to the non profit investors in the fund opic anonymous investors cordes foundation seth meisel fmo barend van der vorm tamara dunietz & david dunn sari miller trust deg german development bank lisa & charly kleissner jane eddy mwaghazi mwachofi calvert foundation sangeeta & sudhir maheshwari hornthal investment partners luisa & laurence newman deutsche bank foundation liz wedlan & peter braffman melinda wolfe & ken inadomi prashant jhawar adelson family foundation judson berkey marty kahn dalip pathak stephen brenninkmeijer suzanne biegel serge kremer harold rosen & susan wedlan montpelier foundation maurizio caio leah & jeff kronthal sir david scholey t & j meyer family foundation kantian foundation robert j. caruso joshua mailman wolfensohn & company llc what we do june 16th 2016grassroots business fund aaaaaaa two our investees we work towards a world where economic opportunity reaches everyone . asia 7 investees 11.1 m committed 1.5 m beneficiaries click for details on all asia investees left1 676718 africa 4 investees 11.1 m committed 940 00 beneficiaries click for details on all africa investees left1 676718 latam 6 investees 16.1 m committed 77 000 beneficiaries click for details on all latam investees left1 676718 hover over regions for more information meet our investees squeeze indonesia click for more brazafric kenya click for more alamanda indonesia click for more alquimia paraguay click for more industree india click for more cavsac peru click for more skepl india click for more ikanga tea tanzania click for more novica guatemala click for more kz noir rwanda click for more natural habitats ecuador click for more jaipur rugs india click for more villa andina peru click for more off bound adventures colombia click for more wamu kenya click for more tara machines india click for more servals india click for more click on images for details our investees march 19th 2015grassroots business fund counter our impact we believe in the power of business to lift people out of poverty 18 portfolio companies 34 34.5 m of investment capital 50 50m of economic value our approach to measurement learn about our impact our impact june 13th 2016grassroots business fund core features insights publicationsread our annual reports factsheets and newsletters case studieslearn from our team and experts in the newssee what others say about us and our clientsgbf blogfind out what keeps us inspired and learning insights january 20th 2015grassroots business fund we would to hear from you powered by wordpress theme brooklyn by united themes