The fund, UC Impower, aims to provide early-stage support to financial services and climate solution companies.
“As the fund’s first development finance investor, BII’s participation is a strong endorsement of our strategy for long-term, impact-driven value creation in India,” said Mona Kachhwaha, a partner at the fund.
The Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, Sorenson Impact Foundation, Caspian Impact Investment Adviser and the LifeBank Microfinance Foundation are among the investors that had already committed capital to UC Impower, which was incubated by Unitus Capital in 2023.
“This investment enables us to reach more early-stage businesses serving underserved communities and MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises), and deepen our impact in India,” said Shilpa Kumar, managing director and India head at BII.
BII has committed to invest up to $1 billion in climate finance in India between 2022 and 2026. India represents BII’s largest country-level investment portfolio, with $2.5 billion invested across more than 600 businesses. Overall, the development finance institution has investments in over 1,600 businesses across 66 countries, with total net assets of £9.87 billion.
UC Impower has so far raised about Rs 435 crore, people familiar with the matter said. Several leading Indian family offices have also invested in the fund, which is expected to reach its final close in April.The fund completed its first investment in September 2024 and has made four investments to date: three in financial services companies Swara Fincare, GrowXCD Finance and Unico Housing Finance, and one in climate solutions firm AmpereHour Energy.
“We have deployed about Rs 100 crore across these four portfolio companies and reserved another Rs 50-60 crore for follow-on investments,” said Richa Natarajan, another partner at the fund.
The fund plans to build a portfolio of 10-11 investments and continues to see strong deal flow across both focus sectors.