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

Wednesday, April 20, 2016

Singapore-based investment platform Fundnel has entered into a strategic tie-up with Indian crowdfunding platform Impact Guru to tap into philanthropic and investment capital from the Indian diaspora based in Southeast Asia and plough back investments into ventures that address social needs.

This is seen to be the first time a social crowdfunding platform has teamed up with an investment crowdfunding platform to unlock investment opportunities in areas including financial inclusion, clean tech, education, water and sanitation, and healthcare.

“This partnership allows us to extend our influence beyond India to attract philanthropic as well as investment capital from NRIs and Persons of Indian Origin especially in markets where Fundnel is present — Singapore, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Indonesia. There are 2.5 million Indians residing in these countries,” said Piyush Jain, co-founder and CEO of Impact Guru. Founded in 2014, Impact Guru empowers people to give to non-profits and social causes in India.It was incubated at Harvard Innovation Lab’s Venture Initiation Program and subsequently at PACT Social Enterprise Incubator Singapore.

Impact investing is still nascent in India where investments are made with an intention of generating both financial return and delivering social impact. Data from Intellecap, an organization that works at the intersection of social and commercial business sectors, shows that around $1.6 billion has been invested across 220 organizations in the country. “India is a natural market, looking at its demographics,” said Kelvin Lee, co-founder of Fundnel that leverages technology to aggregate capital and disburses it in a structured process. Since inception, Fundnel has helped investors invest in 10 deals worth over $8 million.