Relevance of Grameen Capital

Have you ever heard of Grameen Capital India (GCI)? Most of us have not and would not have but for the news that Ratan Tata has bought a stake in it. And he is not the only biggie shareholder – there are others too like Shrinivas Dempo of Dempo group, former top Credit Suisse executive Vikram Gandhi, Patni group promoters Amit Patni and Arihant Patni.

This is probably the first time ever that Tata has invested in the social impact space. GCI is a first-of-its-kind financial advisory firm with a mandate to catalyze inclusive growth and facilitate capital market access for impact-focused enterprises across sectors. Its clients are microfinance institutions, affordable healthcare providers, low-cost education firms and other dynamic and sustainable organizations with a social development focus-from early-stage enterprises to established industry leaders.  GCI provides them with innovative debt and equity solutions and other investment banking services to efficiently and effectively scale their businesses. It also offers strategic advisory services to both enterprises and investors. 

Grameen Capital was established in 2007 as a joint venture between Grameen Foundation, Citicorp Finance and IFMR Trust. In November 2012, Amit Patni and Arihant Patni acquired IFMR Trust’s stake in Grameen Capital, in a landmark investment, marking a first-of-its-kind exit in the social business space.