SDG500 launched to invest in developing countries

The coalition partners include the United Nations Capital Development Fund, the International Trade Centre, the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), Care, Smart Africa, Stop TB Partnership and Bamboo Capital Partners. The IDB Lab of the Inter-American Development Bank is also an interested party.

SDG500 will use debt and equity to invest in seed, series-A and series-B rounds in emerging and frontier markets. It aims at reducing the financing gap between seed and growth stage for hundreds of businesses in countries where growth is constrained by a lack of access to follow-on financing.

The new investment platform will offer an exposure to six underlying funds, which will be managed by Luxembourg-based impact asset manager Bamboo Capital Partners.

The underlying six funds are: ABC Fund, an impact investment vehicle targeting smallholder farmers and small and medium-sized agriculture businesses in developing countries; Build, a fixed-income fund financing early-stage enterprises in the least-developed countries; Care SheTrades Fund, a gender-focused fund that will use debt and equity to invest in businesses in Asia; Bloc SmartAfrica and Bloc Latin America, venture capital funds targeting technology enterprises in Africa, and Latin America and the Caribbean region, respectively; and Heal, a venture capital fund investing in healthcare technology businesses in emerging and frontier markets.

Initial sponsors of the funds include the EU, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group of States, the governments of Luxembourg, Togo and Tunisia, Care and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa.

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