Unlocking scalable impact investments for financial inclusion
Kiva Capital envisions a financially-inclusive world where all people, regardless of socioeconomic status, have access to reliable and scalable capital. Established in 2019 as a subsidiary of Kiva, Kiva Capital is an asset manager that supports underserved communities with impact-first capital. By leveraging a unique global lending network of financial services providers and social enterprises, Kiva Capital seeks to provide investors with deep financial inclusion and social enterprise impact alongside financial returns.
Kiva Capital Investment Focus
Expanding opportunities to underserved markets globally, Kiva Capital leverages the impact mission, network, and global brand of Kiva to provide catalytic, private investment solutions to expand financial inclusion. Kiva Capital actively addresses challenges faced by communities often left out of traditional markets, with particular focuses on displaced populations, small businesses, and women.
For Lindiwe, A thriving business means an opportunity to give back to young women in her zimbabwe community.
Investing in Gender Equity
Financial inclusion is fundamental to gender equity. However, as global crises compound, estimates show that the current rate of progress towards global gender parity has backslid. Through the development of an impact-first, gender-lens investment strategy, Kiva Capital aims to activate private sector capital to support gender equity globally.
Through a partnership with USAID, Kiva Capital is developing a gender investment strategy aligned with the 2X Challenge criteria which seeks to advance women’s economic empowerment and financial resiliency. Through this strategy, Kiva Capital aims to support financial service providers and social enterprises committed to improving gender equity across their practices, policies, and products.
Sultani, textiles, Turkey
Investing in Refugees & Displaced Populations
Nearly 90 million people are displaced from their homes worldwide, with this number expected to reach 300 million by 2030 if trends continue. Though immediate humanitarian aid is critical for refugee communities, economic opportunity is needed for longer-term stability.
Yet, most refugees are financially excluded due to perceived risk. Mobilizing institutional capital through the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF), Kiva Capital seeks to scale refugee lending and support displaced populations in emerging markets while generating financial returns for investors. KRIF builds on Kiva.org’s work demonstrating that refugee financing is a viable and scalable investment strategy.
Simon, a farmer in Nigeria
Investing in Small Business Resilience
Micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) represent about 90% of businesses and more than 50% of employment worldwide. However, MSMEs in emerging markets and developing countries cite access to finance as a key constraint for growth – especially given constraints induced by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the United States, many small businesses had to temporarily close or scale back operations due to pandemic restrictions. Launching two innovative COVID-response vehicles, Kiva Capital was able to steward low-cost capital to small businesses in critical need of capital during the ongoing pandemic both domestically and in emerging markets.
California Rebuilding Fund: The California Rebuilding Fund (the Rebuilding Fund), of which Kiva Capital is the administrator, aims to address the capital and advisory needs of California’s small businesses as they reopen and recover from the COVID-19 health and economic crisis. Supporting MSMEs critical to California’s economy, the Rebuilding Fund particularly focuses on historically under-resourced communities.
Small Business Resilience Fund: Mobilizing institutional capital to financial service providers, Kiva Capital also partnered with Google in 2021 to launch the Small Business Resilience Fund (SBRF). Facilitating a critical flow of capital to MSMEs affected by the COVID-19 crisis in Sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and Southeast Asia, SBRF was established to support MSME growth and resilience in targeted countries as they recover from the economic effects of COVID.
From Los Angeles to Lagos, Kiva Capital recognizes that supporting small business financial infrastructure is critical to supporting the economy.
Contact Kiva Capital
Kiva Capital partners with a range of impact investors and philanthropic organizations to advance shared goals. To learn more about Kiva Capital, please contact investorrelations@kiva.org.
Leading with impact
Kiva Capital is proud to have been selected to the 2023 ImpactAssets 50 Emerging Impact Manager list -- a diverse group of impact fund managers recognized for demonstrated potential to create positive impact. This is the fourth year in a row that Kiva has been included in the Emerging Impact Manager list.
“The caliber of this year’s IA 50 lists is a product of the rigorous application scoring and analysis process that the IA 50 Review Committee has fine-tuned through the years. We’re thrilled to foster the continuing growth of these unique, innovative investing approaches addressing critical issues from climate to racial equity and gender equality.”
By combining a rigorous, top-down country assessment with in-depth, bottom-up company due diligence, Kiva Capital’s investment process seeks to identify potential investees with strong financial and operational sustainability. Alongside financial and operational strengths, our investment process also integrates selection and screening criteria on impact alignment of prospective investees with respect to our dedicated thematic theory of change.
At Kiva Capital, our commitment to impact is integrated into every step of the investment life cycle and is supported by our robust proprietary impact measurement and management systems. Kiva Capital is a signatory of the Operating Principles for Impact Management (OPIM). To learn more about Kiva Capital’s commitment to robust impact measurement and management, please see our 2022 OPIM Disclosure Statement.
Deepening impact through technical assistance
To strengthen the impact of its investees’ operations, services, and products, Kiva Capital seeks to pair its investments with technical assistance to increase potential impact. Technical assistance in the form of digitization, new product design, borrower data collection, entrepreneurship training, client protection policies, and a range of additional services helps to equip Kiva Capital lending partners to better support their customers and deepen their impact in the communities they serve.
Leveraging Kiva’s global network
Currently, lending to underserved populations occurs through a broad spectrum of institutions, ranging from small, donor-supported non-profit organizations to fully regulated deposit-taking financial institutions. Leveraging Kiva’s well-established global network, Kiva Capital makes private debt investments in financial service providers (FSPs) and innovative social enterprises (SEs) operating in emerging markets committed to delivering meaningful financial services and products to underserved populations. Often, these mission-oriented FSPs and SEs serve as the first providers of basic services to the underserved, many of whom are the primary drivers of jobs in emerging markets.
Kiva Capital leverages Kiva’s nearly 20 year history of investing to advance financial inclusion, globally. Since its founding, Kiva has facilitated over $1.7B in capital to over 4 million borrowers, and has underwritten 200+ financial service providers and 90+ social enterprises. The Kiva team is located in strategic regions around the globe and has executed transactions in over 90 countries.
FATEN, an NGO in Palestine, received investment from Kiva Capital funds to help expand its reach to refugees like Malik.
Kiva Capital Impact Investment Spotlight: FATEN
Palestine for Credit & Development (FATEN) is a non-profit organization that provides micro and small loans to entrepreneurs in Palestine. In February of 2009, FATEN posted their first loan on Kiva.org with a gross loan portfolio (GLP) of $12.5M. Over the course of 13 years of partnership with Kiva, FATEN’s GLP has since grown to $110M and the majority of the $30M raised by FATEN on the Kiva crowdfunding platform has been used to serve refugees. As the organization grew to become the main source of lending to Palestinian refugees, investing in FATEN through the Kiva Refugee Investment Fund (KRIF) was a welcomed next step for the partnership. In Q3 2021, KRIF disbursed $3M to FATEN to further support the expansion of refugee lending in Palestine. Kiva Capital estimates that this $3M loan will reach over 1,000 refugee borrowers.
Meet some of the Kiva Capital staff
Celia Wong
Managing Director, Kiva Capital
Celia is a leader in the impact investing space as a sustainable investment fund manager with over 20 years of market experience in raising, structuring, and managing capital from U.S. and European institutional and private investors. Before joining Kiva in 2020, Celia was a principal portfolio manager of Deutsche Bank/DWS’s Sustainable Investments funds, overseeing portfolios of over $200 million in investments and technical assistance in microfinance institutions, financial services companies, and social enterprises with the goal of expanding access and improving the quality of financial and basic services to underserved populations. Celia holds an M.Eng. from Cornell University, graduated from the University of British Columbia with a B.A.Sc. in Civil Engineering, and is a CFA charterholder.
Lina Ramírez
Investment Manager, Latin America
Lina Ramírez joined Kiva in February 2020 as an Investment Manager covering El Salvador, Honduras, Costa Rica, Chile and Colombia. Lina brings over 16 years of Financial Industry experience to the Kiva Capital team. Prior to joining Kiva, Lina worked at the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, a government agency responsible for overseeing financial regulation and market systems under the Ministry of Finance, where she supervised the largest conglomerate in the country. At the agency, Lina also led the authorization of licenses for all new institutions and mergers and acquisitions in the financial sector. Prior to working for the Financial Superintendence of Colombia, Lina served as the Director of Debt for LAC at Incofin, a Belgium-based Microfinance Investment Manager, where she covered investments in financial service providers and SMEs in the agriculture sector. Lina started her career at Citibank Colombia in the corporate risk and the Financial Institutions groups. Lina holds an MBA from Vlerick Business School, Belgium, and an undergraduate degree in industrial engineering with a minor in finance.
Andreas Eichin
Senior Director, Structured Credit
Andreas joined Kiva in 2020, bringing over 20 years of experience in the financial sector, and microfinance in particular. Before joining Kiva, Andreas served as Director of Investments at MicroVest Capital Management for over 11 years, where he was responsible for various aspects of deal origination, structuring, and fund management. Prior to MicroVest, Andreas spent 10 years as a microfinance expert and bank advisor in Latin America and the United States, where he worked with development finance institutions on development projects, feasibility studies, business plans, and project monitoring. Andreas received his MSsc. in Finance, Structured Finance, Portfolio Management, Investments, and Statics from The George Washington University and his Msc. in Economics, Political Economy, Institutional Economics, and Monetary Theory from Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg.
David Kitusa
Director, Business Development Africa
David Kitusa is Kiva’s Regional Representative for Anglophone Africa. As the Regional Representative, David is responsible for driving Kiva’s expansion and growth strategy by exploring new partner relationships, working and strengthening the existing ones, and building Kiva’s regional presence. David has over 20 years of progressive wealth experience in microfinance and Impact Investment both at operational and policy levels. Prior to Kiva, David served as the former acting Chief Executive Officer at AMFI, where he successfully spearheaded the turnaround of the Association, as well as assisted with fundraising, strategic planning, coordination, and establishing linkages with external stakeholders. He was instrumental in drafting and advocating for the passage of the microfinance Act 2006.
Katrina Ngo
Director, Investor Relations
Bringing over two decades of experience and leadership in the social sector, Katrina joined Kiva Capital in 2021 as Director of Impact Investor Relations. Prior to joining Kiva, Katrina served as a Senior Manager of Strategic Partnerships with the Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN). At the Clinton Global Initiative (CGI), she held a series of senior positions, including as Director of CGI America. Her early career in international development included the Peace Corps in Kyrgyzstan and a Kiva Fellowship in Kenya. Katrina holds a B.A. in Biology and Economics from the University of Virginia and an MIA from Columbia University's School of International and Public Affairs.
Joel Hughey
Senior Director, Impact
With over 20 years of experience working in International Development in strategy, monitoring, evaluation, and research, Joel is passionate about impact. He has led organizational change efforts to drive greater impact and managed multi-disciplinary teams focused on capturing, translating, and communicating evidence of impact to stakeholders and partners. Prior to joining Kiva, Joel spent over 15 years at World Vision, most recently serving as the Senior Director, Evidence Building and Research where he provided strategic leadership, management, and coordination for building the global evidence for World Vision’s child well-being. Prior to World Vision, Joel served as a Project Manager for World Relief. Joel has a master's degree in International Development from Tulane University, and has lived and worked in Ethiopia and Kenya leading community development efforts in rural, underserved communities.
No Offer of Securities: Under no circumstances should any material at this site be used or considered as an offer to sell or a solicitation of any offer to buy an interest in any investment fund managed by Kiva Capital Management. Any such offer or solicitation will be made only by means of a Confidential Private Placement Memorandum relating to the particular fund. Access to information about the funds is limited to investors who qualify as “accredited investors” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and who are capable of evaluating the merits and risks of prospective investments. We do not make any representations as to the accuracy or completeness of the information contained on this website and undertake no obligation to update the information.
