ImpactAlpha, February 5 – Dutch fund manager Capital 4 Development Partners reached $30 million in a first close for a new fund that will invest in small businesses in Asia. Dutch non-governmental organization ICCO Cooperation, which incubated and spun off C4D Partners, anchored the fund. The Dutch Good Growth Fund, FCA Investments and the Australian government’s Investing in Women also invested.
The fund, called C4D Asia Fund, will target Asia’s small business sector as a means to promoting inclusive economic growth in the region. The capital raised from the fund’s first close will back 50 small businesses in India, Indonesia and the Philippines, at least 30% of which will be women-owned and run. It will make equity and hybrid debt-equity investments.
C4D currently has a portfolio of 21 investments in Asia, including off-grid lighting company Mera Gao in India, Nepalese sustainable coffee venture Alpine Coffee, and Cambodian farmer support enterprise Nileda. It could not be immediately determined whether any of C4D’s existing Asia investments were made through the new fund.
The Dutch fund manager is hoping to raise an additional $20 million over the course of the year.