Enabling Qapital, Vivriti Asset Management partner to invest Rs 375Cr in underserved Indian businesses

Enabling Qapital (EQ) — a Swiss impact investment firm — on Thursday announced its partnership with Indian asset manager Vivriti Asset Management (VAM) to invest up to Rs 375 crore over time towards fostering UN sustainable development goals (SDGs) and supporting businesses that are expected to lead economic recovery post the COVID-19 pandemic.

The partnership aims to provide debt finance to support small enterprises and fintechs, empower women entrepreneurs, and strengthen agriculture supply chains.

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Speaking on the partnership, Chuck Olson, Managing Partner, Enabling Qapital, said,

“We are excited about our partnership with Vivriti Asset Management for our India investment strategy, which aims to channel capital to segments underserved by the prevailing financial system. This aligns with EMF’s global priorities of financing livelihood and small enterprises. The partnership will leverage the Vivriti team’s extensive track record of identifying high-quality enterprises, investing in Indian credit markets, and managing risk across business cycles."

Enabling Qapital has a global footprint with over 25 team members based in Switzerland, Liechtenstein, Kenya, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, India, and Ecuador. At present, EQ is advising assets of roughly $300 million.

Earlier this year, Vivriti raised commitments of Rs 1,300 crore across its funds from global and domestic investors interested in investing in this space.

"These funds target yields between 8-16 percent with a low volatility of return by providing mid-market and emerging enterprises with tailored finance," VAM said in a statement.

Soumendra Ghosh, Chief Investment Officer, Vivriti Asset Management, and Founding Member, Vivriti Group, said, “India’s shallow debt markets present a massive opportunity to asset managers with the ability to bridge the gap between perceived and real risk. Powered by the group’s strong technology and risk-management backbone, we at Vivriti Asset Management have been able to consistently create portfolios demonstrating superior-to-market risk-adjusted return, while investing in socially responsible enterprises," he added.