Villgro Innovations Foundation, a proponent from the 2023 Lab cycle, was awarded a feasability study grant from Convergence Blended Finance to bridge the financing gap faced by climate-focused social startups in India and help grow the creation of green jobs that economically empower women locally.
The Impact Financing Facility for Climate-Focused Social Enterprises, the Lab instrument developed by Villgro, a credit guarantee mechanism augmented by technical assistance that helps innovative, new to-credit climate-focused social enterprises and their end users unlock collateral-free commercial debt, build a credit history, and scale operations to create greater impact.
The grant will support the design of the ‘Inclusive Climate Action Scaleup Facility’, a USD 1 million blended finance facility that will use credit guarantees to de-risk financing from local financial institutions. The facility intends to create 3-5x leverage and unlock debt financing for small-scale innovative climate-focused enterprises in India and their end customers. The facility will operate with a 5-year plan to reach a scale of USD 10 million. The grant is awarded through Convergence’s Gender-Responsive Climate Finance Design Funding Window, funded by Global Affairs Canada.
“Receiving the Convergence Feasibility Study Grant is an honor for us at Villgro, propelling our mission to empower climate-focused enterprises and their end-users. This transformative grant by Convergence will drive the development of our ‘Inclusive Climate Action Scaleup Facility,’ addressing financing gaps for pioneering enterprises in India.”
Vibha Tilwalli Sharma, CA, CFA, Lead of Impact Financing at Villgro
