It appears that the microfinance sector in India has received a mixed bag of news recently. First, the good news is that investment in the sector continues to appear robust. According to Microcapital.org, the The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation has taken an undisclosed equity stake in “BASIX Sub-K iTransactions Limited, the mobile payments unit of [...]

According to Nextbillion.net, LeapFrog has established the first ever fund dedicated solely to investing in microinsurance (for more posts on the subject you can go here) throughout the world. Jim Roth, the fund’s founder, said that this $137 million fund will look to invest in the wide spectrum that has become microinsurance. “Driven both by local [...]

Here are two stories from Microcapital.org on the MFI space in India: SKS Microfinance Partners with State Bank of India (SBI), State Bank of Hyderabad (SBH) and State Bank of Mysore (SBM) to Integrate 600 Branches Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) Takes 11% Stake in Microfinance Institution Bandhan for $10.7m

Here are some updates in the microfinance space within India. All sources are from Microcapital.org. MoneyGram International to Extend Money Transfer Services to Two Cooperative Banks in India Grameen Koota Receives Rs 27.5 Crore in Equity Capital Financial Information Networks receives $15m in Equity Capital International Labour Organization’s Microinsurance Innovation Facility Opens Fourth Round of [...]

The Microfinance India Summit, organized by Access Development Services, will be on October 26th to the 28th in New Delhi. The summit aims to address issues concerning “the trade-offs and points of convergence as the microfinance sector copes to balance between building the social as well as the financial capital; scale and soul; social performance [...]

Sa-Dhan, an association of community development finance institutions in India will host a National Microfinance Conference in New Delhi on March 31, 2009. The conference is centered on the theme, ‘Microfinance Ecosystem: Equilibrium Between Growth & Effectiveness’. One of the goals for this event is for Sa-Dhan member organization to come together with academicians, practioners [...]

Nirantara Community Services, Arohan, and Sanghamithra Rural Financial Services have been announced winners of Royal Bank of Scotland and PlaNet Finance’s India’s Microfinance Process Excellence Awards . They were the third annual awards and the winners for the awards were selected from a pool of 67 nominees, which were shortlisted after receiving applications from the initial pool of applicants. The [...]

One of the most recognizable names in Indian microfinance has decided to step down from his role as CEO. Vikram Akula, the visionary founder and leader of SKS Microfinance will step down. Mr. Akula says that this change will allow him to focus on a new initiative – microinsurance.  As MicroCapital reported earlier this year, SKS [...]

Madura Micro Finance has received an investment by Unitus Equity Fund to ramp up their offerings to women self help groups (SHGs) in rural India. Madura Micro Finance will use UEF’s funding to increase its management bandwidth and institutional capacity as well as continue to expand its customer base, which is comprised primarily of women.  [...]

According to Mr Chu, “to roll back poverty rather than to merely alleviate it”, any solution needs to be able to reach massive numbers, deliver permanent results that can help many generations, provide continuous effort so it gets better and better at what it does, and provide continuous efficiency so it also becomes cheaper and [...]