Dealflow | December 18, 2020

Grameen America raises $17.5 million for second microfinance fund

Roodgally Senatus
ImpactAlpha Editor

Roodgally Senatus

ImpactAlpha, December 18 — Grameen America, started by Grameen Bank founder Muhammad Yunus, has been providing low-income women business owners with access to capital since 2008.

The nonprofit’s new $17.5 million impact fund will specifically focus on supporting underserved women business owners impacted by COVID. The five-year fund is aiming to provide up to $200 million in loans by recycling the capital.

Grameen America makes offers six-month term-loans, with borrowers committing to weekly payments to make installments affordable, a spokesperson told ImpactAlpha. “We constantly repackage weekly repayments into new loans, which is how Grameen America achieves a tremendous velocity of loan capital to women.”

Grameen America raised $11 million for its first impact fund in 2018 (see, “Grameen America closes first microfinance impact fund”). It has disbursed $1.7 billion in micro-loans to more than 132,000 women in the U.S. since 2008.

The organization received $25 million from philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s $1.7 billion in giving in July (see, “MacKenzie Scott, author and philanthropist”).

An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated that Grameen America was the U.S. affiliate of Grameen Bank. The two organizations are not affiliated.