NextBillion - An Initiative of the William Davidson Institute at the University of Michigan

Andreas Nilsson is the founder and Managing Director of Sonanz and has a background as a private equity investor at EQT Partners and UBS. He has also acted as advisor to the first private equity firm in Bangladesh and the first social investment fund in Sweden.

Nilsson holds a PhD and a MSc in Finance from the Stockholm School of Economics and spent two years as a Visiting Fellow at Harvard Business School.

Sonanz is a private equity fund that invests in innovative, fast growing companies providing essential products to low-income people globally. The fund invests in financial inclusion, off-grid clean energy, sustainable agriculture, affordable healthcare and education in Africa, Asia and Latin America. The goal is to generate market rate financial returns as well as significant and measurable social impact. As a fund-of-funds Sonanz has screened hundreds of private equity funds that focus on underserved markets and is an investor in Lok.

In 2017, Sonanz launched its first fund-of-funds with backing from the Swedish bank SEB, which has been at the forefront of responsible investing for many years as well as the H&M Foundation and other private European investors.