Our Investors

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) is the principal development financial institution in India headquartered at Lucknow with branches all over India. Set up on April 2, 1990 through an Act of Parliament, SIDBI acts as the Principal Financial Institution for the Promotion, Financing and Development of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector and for co-ordination of functions of institutions engaged in similar activities. SIDBI has invested in Sonata in the year 2013 by taking Optionable Convertible Preference Shares and further these shares were converted into Equity in the year 2017.

Proparco – a subsidiary of the Agence Française de Développement (AFD) devoted to private sector funding – has been supporting sustainable development for almost 40 years. It operates in 73 countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East and helps finance and support financial institutions and corporate private-sector projects. Today it has almost 400 clients worldwide. Proparco focuses on the key development areas, such as renewable energy-based infrastructure, agribusiness, financial sector, health and education. Through its work, Proparco has a powerful impact on sustainable economic growth, job creation, access to essential goods and services and, more broadly, on poverty reduction and fighting climate change. In addition to providing financing, its role is to promote the emergence of responsible and innovative economic and financial actors in developing and emerging countries. It also assists its clients in improving their environmental, social and governance performance. Proparco is one of the leading European Development Finance Institutions which together spearhead a large number of joint programmes.

Support for the private financial sector is one of Proparco’s main areas of operation. Its support benefits banks, non-banking financial institutions (for example, institutions specialized in mortgage credit or financing the agricultural sector), as well as insurance and micro-insurance companies. It aims to strengthen and regulate financial systems in the South, while contributing to the dissemination of high environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards.

Triodos Investment Management BV, a wholly owned subsidiary of Triodos Bank, manages 17 sustainable investment funds. With over 20 years of impact investing experience, Triodos Investment Management has become a leader in sectors where financial and social return go hand in hand, such as renewable energy, microfinance, arts and culture, organic farming and sustainable real estate. Through Triodos Investment Management, investors have the opportunity to invest in listed companies that score above average in the environmental and social spheres.

Since 1994, Triodos Investment Managements assets under management in inclusive finance have increased to over EUR 600 million, making it one of the leading investors in the industry. At year-end 2014, Triodos Investment Management provides finance to 102 up and coming and well established microfinance institutions and banks in 44 countries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Eastern Europe. These institutions offer a variety of financial services to underserved client groups, serving 11 million loan clients (of whom 73% are women) and 8.2 million savings clients. 49% of clients live in rural areas.

Triodos Investment Management manages two foundations, a retail fund and an institutional fund investing in microfinance institutions and banks. All funds have similar objectives, but different risk profiles and funding structures. This means financial institutions at different stages of development can be supported. Innovative trade finance loans are offered through the Triodos Sustainable Trade Fund.

Creation Investments Capital Management LLC is a private equity firm based in Chicago, Illinois, United States of America (USA). Creation Investments is an investment management company committed to fighting global poverty through direct, for-profit investments in businesses which promote economic development. Named a leading Impact Investment fund manager by ImpactAssets50 in 2011, Creation Investments Capital Management, LLC currently manages 4b Capital Fund A, L3C, Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund I, and Creation Investments Social Ventures Fund II, with a focus on private equity and control equity investments in Microfinance Institutions, Small-and-Medium Enterprise lenders, BOP Financial Services Providers, and other Social Ventures in emerging markets seeking to maximize financial and social returns on investment.

Caspian is the first Indian venture capital fund that invests in MFIs in India. The fund invests in high potential start up MFIs committed to efficiency and commercial viability, and in well-established medium sized MFIs that intend to transform into legally appropriate entities. Caspian has been working with Sonata since the launch of its micro finance operations. Caspian provides Sonata capacity building assistance to further scale up Sonata's operations in a sustainable way.

India Financial Inclusion Fund (IFIF) is a fund that was set up in August 2008 as an off-shore India-focused equity fund, investing in high-growth, small to medium MFIs and enablers. It aims to provide new MFIs with start-up, growth capital, strategic inputs, and technical advice. Support and enable product diversification by providing appropriate risk capital, Encourages the scaling up or creation of microfinance enablers, who will contribute to building an efficient microfinance ecosystem and Play the role of an active, responsible investor seeking to deliver a competitive financial return and support the expansion of social performance initiatives.

Michael and Susan Dell established the foundation in 1999. The gift was inspired by their passion for supporting children's causes as a way to make an even greater difference in a measurable way, particularly for those children living in urban poverty. Based in Austin, TX, the foundation initially focused on improving education and children's health in Central Texas; but our mission soon expanded to reach children globally. To date, the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation has committed more than $530 million to assist nonprofit organizations working in major urban communities in the United States and India. Our vision is to focus on opportunities with the greatest potential to directly and measurably transform the lives of children living in urban poverty.

The Samridhi Fund is a Rs 450 Crore social venture capital fund set up with contributions from Department for International Development (DFID), Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI), Life Insurance Corporation of India (LIC) and United India Insurance Company Limited (UIIC). The primary objective of the Fund is to provide risk capital to scalable enterprises which provide economic, social or environmental benefits to the poor in eight low income sates of India (Bihar, Uttar Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Chattisgarh, Jharkhand, Rajasthan and West Bengal), while achieving attractive risk-adjusted returns through long term capital appreciation. It is being managed by SIDBI Venture Capital Limited (SVCL), a subsidiary of SIDBI.