British International Investment

Insitor Impact Asia Fund Private Limited

CambodiaGlobalIndiaMyanmarPakistanSouth AsiaSoutheast AsiaCommunications & IT servicesConstruction & Real estateConsumer - EducationConsumer - HealthConsumer - other servicesFinancial servicesFood & AgricultureGeneralistInfrastructure

The Insitor Impact Asia Fund invests in early-stage companies in Myanmar, Cambodia, India and Pakistan that improve access to basic goods and services for low-income communities.

This investment was made when British International Investment was named CDC Group.

Our investment

Description of the investment.

CDC’s Impact Fund committed a total of $15 million to Insitor Impact Asia Fund, bringing the total fund size to $33 million. The remaining $18m was raised from private investors.

Expected impact

Expected impact of investments made between 2012 and 2018. From 2019 onwards, we have published a fuller set of impact information, assessing each investment against six dimensions of impact.

Lack of early-stage capital is a key barrier to the growth of early-stage businesses in Insitor’s target geographies, especially Pakistan and Myanmar.

Our investment enables Insitor to back promising businesses that provide essential goods and services to low-income households in sectors such as education, agriculture, energy, water, healthcare, and financial services where there is a large, unmet demand.

Insitor’s first investment was in EduBridge, a company that provides low-cost education and training to transform the lives of unemployed youth in rural and semi-urban areas of India.

The funds were used to expand EduBridge’s operations to the states of Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, and to strengthen its operations.

Insitor has also invested in Delhi-based Aviom India Housing Finance, which provides affordable housing loans to low-income individuals and families.

In addition to providing capital, the fund manager provides investee companies with the hands-on support they need to scale up.

Environmental and social information

  • Environmental and social summary

    A high-level description of the environmental and social aspects of the investment. This may include a summary of key environmental and social risks identified during environmental and social due diligence (ESDD); key elements of an environmental and social action plan (ESAP); or ways in which we plan to support the investee improve environmental and social standards, such as through their environmental and social management system (ESMS); as well as any other priority areas agreed with the investee.
  • Environmental and social risk

    A risk category rating, which indicates the level of environmental and social risk associated with an investment. For an explanation of the categorisations used, see here. We consistently provide an environmental and social risk category for all investments screened from 2023 onwards.

Environmental and social summary

We have worked closely with the fund manager to develop and implement an ESMS for this first-time fund.

Understanding our approach to environmental and social risk (PDF)

Reporting and Complaints Mechanism

The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism allows anyone outside BII to report alleged breaches of the business integrity or environmental and social provisions of BII’s Policy on Responsible Investing. This includes breaches made by BII, a BII investee, or a portfolio company of a fund in which BII has invested. The Reporting and Complaints Mechanism Rules are available here. Reports and complaints can be submitted by email to reportsandcomplaints@bii.co.uk or by mail. See more details on our Reporting and Complaints Mechanism here.

For any other general enquiries contact us at enquiries@bii.co.uk

  • Key facts
    Last updated

    When the last quarterly update of the website database occurred.
    :
    June 2024
    Project number

    An identifier number shared by investments in the same project.
    :
    D227
    Status

    The current status of the investment (green flag for active and red flag for exited).
    :
    Active
    Region

    The geographical region where the country is located. We currently invest in Africa, South Asia, South East Asia and the Caribbean. In 2023, BII’s investment mandate was extended allowing it to invest in regional funds linked to Ukraine, with the majority of activity expected to begin post-war. Investments outside these regions were made prior to 2012 under previous investment mandates.
    :
    South Asia, Southeast Asia
    Sector

    We prioritise those sectors that facilitate development and need our capital the most. Our priority sectors contribute towards many of the Sustainable Development Goals. They range from investing in the power infrastructure that will provide people with better access to electricity, to investing in financial institutions that direct capital to the individuals and businesses that need it the most.

    :
    Communications & IT services, Construction & Real estate, Consumer - Education, Consumer - Health, Consumer - other services, Financial services, Food & Agriculture, Generalist, Infrastructure

    We provide capital in the following ways: directly – through direct equity, direct debt, guarantees and other non-intermediated financial instruments; and indirectly – principally through investment funds.

    For direct investments and fund investments, this is the date BII committed capital to the investments. This is typically the date on which legal agreements are signed by all parties.

    For the portfolio companies of our fund investments, this is the date (either the month or the quarter) on which the fund committed capital to the portfolio company.

    For direct equity investments, this is the date at which British International Investment exited the investment.

    For debt investments, this is the date at which the final debt repayment was made.

    For funds, this is the date at which the fund was terminated.

    For underlying fund investments, this is the date at which the fund manager exited the investment.

    The total amount committed, per financial instrument, per investment, on the date BII becomes subject to a binding legal obligation to provide funding or assume a contingent liability. This information is provided in US dollars.

    For direct investments, this is the amount that BII has committed to the business or project. For fund investments, this is the amount BII has committed to the fund.

    The currency in which the investment was made.
    Investment type :
    Fund
    Start date :
    December 2015
    Amount :
    $10m
    Currency of investment :
    USD
    Fund Manager:
    Swiss-Asia Financial Services Pte. Ltd
    Domicile

    The company or investment fund’s place of incorporation.
    :
    Singapore
    2X Gender Finance

    Indicates whether the investment is ‘2X qualified’ using the 2X Challenge criteria. You can find out more here. It only applies to investments made from 2018 onwards, when the 2X Challenge was first launched.
    :
    Fully qualified

    Download as PDF

    Click here to read our data guidance

Related investments made by BII into this fund:

Investment name Commitment Region Sector Start date Status
Investment 02 $5m South Asia, Southeast Asia Communications & IT services, Construction & Real estate, Consumer - Education, Consumer - Health, Consumer - other services, Financial services, Food & Agriculture, Generalist, Infrastructure July 2017 Active

Investments made by this fund into companies:

For further information about these companies, visit https://www.swissasia-group.com/

Investment name Country Region Sector Start date Status
Aashiyaan Housing and Development Finance Pvt Ltd India South Asia Construction & Real estate April 2018 Active
Alliance for Microfinance in Myanmar Limited Myanmar Rest of the World Financial services January 2017 Active
Aviom India Housing Finance India South Asia Financial services January 2018 Exited
Boost Capital Private Limited (Wild Card) Cambodia Rest of the World Communications & IT services May 2019 Active
Connedit Business Solutions Private Limited (“Farmley”) India South Asia Food & Agriculture January 2020 Active
Consumer Facilitation Technologies Private Ltd Pakistan South Asia Communications & IT services June 2021 Active
Disha Medical Services Private Limited India South Asia Consumer - Health May 2019 Active
Edubridge Learning Pte. Ltd India South Asia Consumer - Education February 2016 Active
Farmley India South Asia Consumer - other services September 2022 Exited
First Loss Provision Global Rest of the World Generalist September 2021 Exited
Khmer Water Supply Holding Co. Ltd. (KWSH) Cambodia Rest of the World Infrastructure July 2018 Active
Sahar Brothers (Private) Limited Pakistan South Asia Construction & Real estate September 2021 Active
Solar Home Pte Ltd Myanmar Rest of the World Financial services July 2018 Active
Wizklub Learning Private Limited India South Asia Consumer - Education January 2020 Exited

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