Impact Partners

Milaap’s Impact Partners are a global community of individuals and institutions who are united in helping India’s poorest communities. Impact is maximised by the multiplier effect these contributions have when combined with the funds from Milaap’s online loan portal.

We ensure an on-going impact assessment is made to acknowledge the real change that is happening when those in need are given access to life’s basic needs - water, energy, income, sanitation and education.

DBS Bank Ltd is one of few banks that supports social enterprises beyond conventional CSR sponsorships. Apart from grants, DBS provides a specialized social enterprise banking package that offers virtually free banking services to social enterprises. DBS employees also offer their time and expertise to help social enterprises enhance their business models. A firm believer in relationship building, DBS partners like-minded organizations to promote the development of social entrepreneurship and build awareness and capacity for the sector in and through research, conferences and development of training programmes.

Milaap is one of the social enterprises supported by DBS. Apart from monetary support, DBS gives Milaap speaking opportunities at key DBS events and opportunities to engage with DBS staff and customers.

The National Skill Development Corporation India (NSDC) is a one of its kind, Public Private Partnership in India. It aims to promote skill development by catalyzing creation of large, quality, for-profit vocational institutions. The NSDC was set up as part of a National Skill Development Mission 2009 to address India’s challenge of skilling a large population of untrained manpower – about 30 per cent of the overall national target of skilling / up-skilling 500 million people by 2022. NSDC acts as a catalyst in skill development by providing funding to enterprises, companies and organizations that provide skill training. It will also develop appropriate models to enhance, support and coordinate private sector initiatives.

Milaap is the first partner of the NSDC for student financing. The NSDC has partnered with Milaap to create the National Loan Portfolio Fund to provide affordable and accessible lending facilities for thousands of deserving youth. The Fund will facilitate social investments in the skill-development sector through the Milaap platform.Trainees in IT, Hardware & Networking, Health-Care, Banking & Financing, Retail and BPO sectors are already benefitting from the Fund. In a year, the Fund will benefit over 1000 beneficiaries, across seven sectors.

Arc Finance is a U.S.-based not-for-profit organization that supports access to finance for modern energy and other basic needs for poor people through partnerships with microfinance institutions and energy enterprises around the world. Arc’s India Program, based in Pune, Maharashtra, sustains a diverse and growing project portfolio that extends across multiple regions of the country.

Arc identified Milaap as a strategic player driving energy access in India and has supported us with an initial corpus of US$100,000 to be used as a revolving loan fund to get access to clean energy where it is most needed. Arc also works closely with Milaap’s energy field partners as a technical advisor, helping institutions plan, implement and improve their energy practices.

About Michael & Susan Dell Foundation: The US-based Michael & Susan Dell Foundation (www.msdf.org) is dedicated to improving the lives of children living in urban poverty around the world. With offices in Austin, Texas, New Delhi, India and Cape Town, South Africa the Dell family foundation funds programs that foster high-quality public education and childhood health, and improve the economic stability of families living in poverty.

The Foundation was set up in order to transform the lives of children who live in urban poverty. They aim at this transformation by focussing on better health and education. The office in India was set up in 2006, and caters to about 15 Indian cities. They seek to positively impact the lives of the individual children they work with, and to catalyze systemic changes.

Asset India Foundation empowers women in prostitution and those rescued from trafficking in India by providing them training in income generating activities and secure meaningful livelihoods for themselves and their children.

In September 2013, ASSET India provided a catalytic loan of $100,000 to kickstart a pathbreaking model in training Devadasi women and others vulnerable to trafficking with livelihood skills and create self sustaining entrepreneurs in Belgaum, Karnataka.

Applying a bottom-up approach to build scalable solutions, the Deshpande Foundation India – Hubli Sandbox works to create an effective ecosystem where resources are put to use through entrepreneurship, innovation and sustainability. Located in northwest Karnataka in India, the Hubli Sandbox engages with not-for-profits, academics, organizations and entrepreneurs leading to the launch of effective and scalable models of development.

In October 2012, Deshpande Foundation provided a soft loan and grant of Rs 25 Lakh to catalyze financing of skill development and MSMEs in North Karnataka (also known as Sandbox region)

Rikvin is one stop solution to setting up Singapore companies and businesses - providing for taxation, accounting, setting up branches and so on. Their clients hail from all over the world, from individuals to Fortune 500 companies.

Rikvin supported e27-Milaap’s Entrepreneurship Development Fund with a matching loan of S$50,000 to create, train and fund 20 high impact, rural entrepreneurs untouched by technology across India

Joy Holdings is a social business fund set up by Mr S.K. Shelgikar, advisor to Videocon, inspired by the principles of Dr Mohammed Yunus.

Milaap received a catalytic loan of Rs 20 Lakh to kickstart lending for water and sanitation programs in rural Tamil Nadu, impacting over 300 families in the process.

Untld India is a launchpad for social entrepreneurs. They work with entrepreneurs in the early stages so that they will be able to increase their impact, develop as leaders and prepare the organizations for scaling and further investment. Through the organizations, they want to bring about a long-term impact to India’s social problem.

Unltd India was one of the earliest supporters of Milaap through the Growth Challenge program in 2011 that provided us Rs 20 Lakh of interest free loan with a customised support package of mentorship, incubation and high-value connections.

The Seven Bar Foundation identifies itself as a brand for the Empowerment of Women. They believe that investments in their foundation will help countless women in the long run, while increasing in size and impact with every woman whom the funds reach. Their micro-loans enable women across the world to start or maintain small businesses.

In Jan 2013, SevenBar Foundation and Milaap partnered to create, train and fund 150 marginalized, women entrepreneurs with access to markets in rural Tamil Nadu through a $25,000 investment. SevenBar is also supporting Milaap as its fiscal sponsor in the United States.

The mission of the Global Poverty Project is to increase the number and effectiveness of people taking action to see the end of extreme poverty in the world.

Milaap was selected as the youngest and the only cause from India for the Live Below The Line Campaign 2013, that challenges everyday American youth to live on $1.5/day and raise awareness and funds for the causes they care about. Over 600 people participated in the challenge for Milaap, raising over $12000 in the process.

A-connect is a project execution firm, which helps companies execute critical projects efficiently and cost effectively.

They gave US$ 10,000 to us as part of their annual christmas gift in Dec 2011.

dunnhumby is the world’s leading customer science company. They analyse data and apply insights from more than 400 million customers across the globe to create better customer experiences and build loyalty.

Dunnhumby contributed Rs 50,000 towards bringing smokeless cook stoves to 10 families in Orissa. They liked the fact that Milaap is coming forward to solve the most basic needs of the under privileged by giving them access to cheap capital

Is your organization ready to make an impact? Please get in touch by emailing Mayukh (mayukh@milaap.org ). We’re excited to hear from you.