Omidyar Network Invests $9 Million In Unitus
The Omidyar Network, a philanthropic investment firm founded by former eBay co-founder Pierre Omidyar and his wife Pam, has announced a three-year, $9-million, grant to Seattle-based Unitus. This will help the US based microfinance funding institution to expand globally. This is the second grant Unitus has received from the Omidyar Network. In 2005, the organisation received $2.7 million to scale its MFI Accelerator program.
Unitus, based in Seattle and Bangalore, works extensively with microfinance institutions in India. The organisation currently has 14 Indian partners on its roster, and a total of 21 worldwide. Unitus reaches more than three million families globally. This is the Omidyar Network’s largest microfinance grant to date. Microfinance institutions offer loans to the poor in developing countries to help them start or sustain small businesses. (more…)
