Tokyo-based holding company of microfinance institutions Gojo & Company has raised an additional amount of $19 million in its ongoing Series D round from a host of international investors, according to an announcement.
The round saw the participation of TGVest Capital, Baillie Gifford, Future Venture Capital (CVC of East Japan Bank), and several individual investors.
Earlier this year, in May, Gojo raised $22 million in its Series D round from Seven Bank, Credit Saison, SBI Group, besides a slew of individual investors.
The company plans to use the funding to expand its operations and ramp up digitalization of its existing group companies in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka, and India. Going forward, it is looking to foray into new markets in Asia and Africa.
Gojo was founded to include financial inclusion for everyone in the world beginning with the developing countries. Gojo encourages the formalization and growth of micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises.
It claims to have a gross loan portfolio of $260 million, thereby having served over 570,000 clients in Cambodia, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and India.
The company launched the pilot of Digital Field Application (DFA), which was co-developed with MAXIMA, its group company in Cambodia aiming to accelerate digitalization and also reduce lead time in serving financial products to clients.
“As a growth capital private equity fund, we are always interested in innovative businesses disrupting an industry with tech-enabled applications,” said DC Cheng, Chairman of TGVest Capital.
TGVest Capital is an Asia-based technology-focused private equity fund specializing in buyout and growth capital investments in companies.
Meanwhile, Baillie Gifford is an independent investment partnership based in Scotland, UK, with $324 billion of assets under management (as at 30 June 2020).
Last year, Gojo and Capital 4 Development Asia Fund Netherlands invested $8.5 million (Rs 60 crore) in a Series B funding round in Delhi-based AVIOM India Housing Finance.
Earlier, the Japan financial company led a $6.2 million investment in New Delhi-based micro-finance firm Satya MicroCapital. With imminent approval from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) to shore up its ownership in Satya, the company has committed to investing an additional $10 million in the firm, it said in the announcement.
