AVPN, iBAN to Support Inclusive Businesses

AVPN, a funders’ network building a high-impact social investment community across Asia-Pacific, is launching a new collaboration to build an ASEAN-wide capacity development programme for inclusive businesses. Defined as companies providing goods, services, and livelihoods on a commercially viable basis, either at scale or scalable, to people living at the base of the pyramid making them part of the value chain, inclusive businesses often face barriers in accessing capital and support to scale.

Kevin Teo, Chief Operating Officer, AVPN, said that there is often a strong dependence on bank loans across most inclusive businesses but traditional finance institutions tend to find them risky and costly. This means there is a need to look at alternative finance, such as impact investments and explore how capital providers can fit inclusive businesses in their portfolios, he said.

The three-step programme is funded by AVPN partner, The Inclusive Business Action Network (iBAN), a global initiative which supports the scaling and replication of inclusive business models to improve the lives of the poor and is implemented by Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ).

Dr Christian Jahn, Executive Director, iBAN, said that they are excited to carry out this partnership as it is a necessary first step to develop the nascent impact investment space in Asia in order to improve the capabilities of inclusive businesses. With an extensive network of both social investors and inclusive businesses, AVPN is in a good position to build and influence the development of the ecosystem resource pipeline, he said.

To this end, AVPN aims to start training inclusive businesses into becoming impact-investment ready. Spanning across Southeast Asian markets including Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Vietnam, AVPN’s awareness and training workshops will support inclusive businesses in tapping into funding streams most relevant to their growth stage. Simultaneously, AVPN will identify a range of capital providers and highlight investment opportunities that they can include into their portfolios. Finally, AVPN will hold a matchmaking session at their Annual Conference in June 2019, the largest gathering of social investors in Asia, to directly bridge communications between the best-in-class participants in the program and investors that can provide critical resources for these enterprises to achieve scale.