ImpactAlpha, April 4 — A subsidiary of Matt Damon’s Water.org, WaterEquity backs microfinance institutions along with micro-utilities, toilet manufacturers and water kiosks to improve access to clean water in emerging markets.
The Kansas City, Mo.-based manager’s third Global Access Fund is looking to return 11% to investors, which include foundations, donor-advised funds, impact and institutional investors.
The U.S. International Development Finance Corp. provided $100 million in debt capital for the fund, which aims to reach 5 million low-income people in Asia, Africa and Latin America, of which more than half will be women.
The commitments “illustrates that our ability to deliver true impact, amplified by the support of DFC, is a compelling offering for impact investors,” said WaterEquity’s Paul O’Connell.
1 in 10 people around the world don’t have access to safe water; 1 in 4 lack access to a toilet.
“The global water crisis is an enormous overlooked market opportunity that can provide true, undiluted impact for investors focused on ESG,” said WaterEquity’s Genevieve Edens.
The fund is looking to increase access to microloans for low-income families to install water connections and toilets in their homes. Improving water and sanitation on a global scale by 2030 is a trillion-dollar market opportunity, says the World Bank.
