Microfinance Funders Profiles – A Short Guide for Young and Small Institutions Still Looking for a Match

Obtaining funding for growth can be an important challenge for many MFIs, particularly for small and young MFIs who are starting to navigate the ocean of funding alternatives and have little knowledge of where to go first. Without access to external sources of financing, the growth potential of these MFIs is constrained to their own resources.

By concentrating on this group of MFIs, this report seeks to answer questions like: Who lends to young MFIs? What types of lenders fund institutions with higher credit risk? Where are smaller MFIs sourcing their on-lending funds? This paper explores each of these questions individually and offers quantitative evidence on likely matches based on the most recent data available on MFI funding liabilities.