<article>The <a style="color: #333399;" href="http://www.cdcgroup.com/How-we-do-it/Types-of-capital/DFID-Impact-Fund/" target="_blank">DFID Impact Fund</a>, an investment instrument by UK-based public limited firm <a style="color: #333399;" href="http://www.cdcgroup.com" target="_blank">CDC Group</a>, has made its first investment in South Asia</article>

The <a style="color: #333399;" href="http://www.cdcgroup.com/How-we-do-it/Types-of-capital/DFID-Impact-Fund/" target="_blank">DFID Impact Fund</a>, an investment instrument by UK-based public limited firm <a style="color: #333399;" href="http://www.cdcgroup.com" target="_blank">CDC Group</a>, has made its first investment in South Asia
CDC, whose sole shareholder is the UK Government, recently committed $10 million of DFID&#8217;s capital to the <a style="color: #333399;" href="http://www.insitormanagement.com/about" target="_blank">Insitor Impact Asia Fund</a> which, in turn, will make investments in Myanmar, Cambodia, India and Pakistan. DFID is UK&#8217;s Department for International Development.
Insitor aims to provide essential goods and services to low-income households in sectors such as education, agriculture, energy and healthcare, where there is a large, unmet demand.
CDC noted that lack of early-stage capital is a key barrier to growth of such businesses in Insitor’s target geographies, especially Pakistan and Myanmar.
&#8220;Through the DFID Impact Fund, CDC is investing £75 million of DFID’s long term, &#8216;patient&#8217; capital in impact investment funds that invest in enterprises which serve the poor as consumers, producers, suppliers or employees,&#8221; CDC said in its statement. &#8220;The DFID Impact Fund’s other investments are Novastar Ventures, Injaro Investments Ltd and Energy Access Ventures Fund.&#8221;
With its plans to make equity investments in early and growth stage companies across South Asia, Insitor is currently pursuing other sources of capital, both public and private, in order to raise a total fund size of $40million.
The Insitor fund was previously supported by one family office and one High Net Worth Individual from Europe.
CDC seeks to attract private investors to the Insitor Fund by providing a pre-defined amount of loss coverage to investors that meet pre-defined criteria.
&#8220;Insitor’s first investment since receiving CDC’s capital is in EduBridge, a company that provides low-cost education and training to transform the lives of unemployed youth in rural and semi-urban areas of India. The funds will be used to expand operations to Gujarat, Odisha, Jharkhand and Bihar, and to strengthen their existing businesses,&#8221; CDC said.
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CDC-managed DFID Impact Fund makes first investment in South Asia

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CDC-managed DFID Impact Fund makes first investment in South Asia

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