TC-I FundWatch

Here is a recap of the major investment activity in India’s social venture space and also traditional investment that will directly affect the poor:

Social

• Chennai based Equitas will secure $12.5 million in funding from two private equity firms over the next few months. The organization intends to use the money to expand its branch office footprint in Southern India.
• Building upon the increasing interest by both domestic and foreign capital in top tier MFIs, the Ford Foundation and Intellecap have created “Making My MFI Investment Worthy” that will identify and handhold 10 MFIs over the next 2 years to scale them up to where they are attractive to commercial investors.
• While this story is a little unrelated, Citi — the major US bank — has committed $1.5 million to the Indian School of Business to promote financial inclusion for small investors and enterprise.

Traditional

• The Indian government is investing a $2 billion fund for expanding broadband internet to rural India. $1.5 billion should come from the private sector.
• Intel Capital has invested $2.5 million in a new online education company titled Vriti Infocom.