MicroVest I, LP Experiences Eighty Percent Portfolio Growth Over Last Year

MV I, LP MFI portfolio grows 80% since March 2005 and generates portfolio revenue in excess of $1 million over the last nine months.

Bethesda, MD (PRWEB) June 19, 2006 -- At quarter-end March 31, 2006, total microfinance debt and equity investments in MicroVest I, LP stood at $16.4 million, an 80% increase over the year-ago period. The portfolio has generated revenue in excess of $1 million over the last nine months demonstrating the strength of microfinance investments as an asset class.

MicroVest I, LP (“MV 1” or “the Fund”) is a leveraged investment vehicle and is the first fund launched by MicroVest Capital Management, LLC in 2004. A Limited Partnership, the fund has over 70 private investors with a total committed debt and equity capital of $22.6 million as of May 31, 2006.

MicroVest was founded by three non-profits with considerable experience in the microfinance industry: CARE, MEDA, and Seed Capital Development Fund. Having long understood the need for additional capital flow into developing countries, the Founders saw microfinance investments as the ideal vehicle to tap into North American capital markets. MicroVest operates on a for-profit business model, thereby demonstrating that not only are microfinance institutions (MFIs) themselves sound and viable investments, but that the industry as a whole can be both sustainable and profitable.

Bo Cutter, Chairman of the Board for MicroVest, is a Managing Director of Warburg Pincus (one of the world's largest private equity firms). His philanthropic foucus has been the application of innovative business solutions to non-profit endeavors. “When half of the world’s population is trying to survive on less than $2 a day, pure philanthropy will only get you so far. MicroVest is trying to help the world see development in a new light. It’s not about giving handouts; it’s about creating an entrepreneurial culture and enabling access to financial services. There are millions of business opportunities out there just waiting to be discovered.”

About MicroVest:

MicroVest (Bethesda, MD) is a $20 million investment firm providing debt and equity capital and management oversight to microfinance institutions (MFIs) in emerging markets. It is the first private equity microfinance investment firm in the United States. MicroVest’s goal is to expand the capacity of existing, profitable MFIs throughout the world while building capital markets that work for the poor. MicroVest was founded by CARE, MEDA and the Seed Capital Development Fund -- three non-profit organizations with longstanding credibility in the microfinance industry.

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