Business Wire India
Ahmedabad-based Microfinance Institution, Pahal Financial Services Pvt. Ltd., recently raised debt capital worth 5 million US dollars from WaterEquity, a USA-based impact investment asset manager. The organization has touched the lives of more than 8 lakh individuals, a majority of them being women borrowers. Pahal has been working towards providing funding for clean water and proper sanitation facilities to marginalized communities since the last two years. The organization has developed strategies which are in line with the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goal – 6 (Clean Water and Sanitation for all).

Till date, Pahal has impacted more than 10,000 households by providing access to funding for clean drinking water, sanitation and toilet facilities. This debt capital will help the Ahmedabad based MFI to further on-lend to women borrowers from low-income households, increasing their access to clean water and toilet facilities.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Sridhar Sampath, South Asia Regional Director at WaterEquity, comments “In partnering with Pahal, WaterEquity is able to support sustainable growth in access to water and sanitation in emerging markets. Together, we are accelerating an end to the global water and sanitation crisis for millions of women, children, and men in India.”
About Pahal Financial Services Pvt. Ltd.

Pahal is a company registered with Reserve Bank of India as a Non-Banking Financial Company that provides microfinance services to the low-income households. Mr. Kartik Mehta and Ms. Purvi Bhavsar, ex-bankers with over 50 years of combined experience, founded the company in 2011. It is based out of Ahmedabad and has more than 170 branches with over 1,500 employees. Pahal has been supported by BOPA (Base of Pyramid Asia) and Opportunity International (through their Indian subsidiary: Dia Vikas) in terms of equity investments. Currently, Pahal has made a significant change in the lives of more than 8 lakh households, mostly women, with total assets under management of nearly 750 crores INR.

For more information: https://www.pahalfinance.com/

About WaterEquity

WaterEquity is an impact investment asset manager exclusively focused on solving one of the most urgent issues of our time—the global water and sanitation crisis. WaterEquity invests in financial institutions and enterprises in emerging markets with the goals of delivering access to safe water and sanitation to low-income consumers while offering an attractive risk-return profile to investors.

Founded by award-winning entrepreneurs Gary White and Matt Damon of Water.org and led by Dr. Paul O’Connell, the success of WaterEquity is built on decades of experience investing in water and sanitation in emerging markets, delivering proven social and financial returns.

Learn more at https://waterequity.org.