Accion, Michael & Susan Dell Foundation invest in Vindhya

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Bangalore-based BPO Vindhya e-Infomedia (Vindhya), which employs people who are differently-abled, has raised an undisclosed amount of venture funding from social sector investors Accion International and Michael & Susan Dell Foundation.

Vindhya provides data management and processing services to clients in the IT and microfinance space.

Accion is making the investment through Frontier Investments Group, an early-stage equity fund that invests in breakthrough technologies and disruptive business models that can powerfully enhance the reach and scope of financial inclusion.

Unitus Capital was the sole advisor to Vindhya for the transaction.

Vindhya, which was started in 2006, has been recruiting, training and employing people with disabilities. It operates out of its centre in Bangalore and nearly 90% of its employees are physically disabled and lack access to economic and other opportunities.

"The funds raised by the company are for capital-expansion and to fund growth as we aggressively ramp-up operations in the medium term," said Ashok Giri, Co-Founder & CEO of Vindhya. He adds that the firm is seeing multi-fold increase in business from existing clients and also new business opportunities.

"Endorsement by renowned investors such as ACCION and the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation is a validation of our faith in the unique business model that we have put together - one that provides respectable white-collared employment opportunities to people with disabilities, while not compromising on the delivery standards that clients have come to expect from Indian IT/ITES majors," Pavithra YS, Chairman and Co- founder of Vindhya said.

"Dedicated business process outsourcing companies like Vindhya are critical to reducing fragmentation and high cost, both of which have kept microfinance out of reach for poorer segments. In addition, Vindhya's creative approach to leveraging the skill set of the differently-abled is an inspiring example of the innovation Frontier is trying to foster in the microfinance and social enterprise sectors," Monica Brand, fund manager for Accion's Frontier Investments Group said,

"Vindhya has demonstrated its ability to scale, acquire larger and higher value businesses, and manage its staffing and training functions while growing to meet market needs," Geeta Goel, Porfolio Director, Microfinance at the Michael & Susan Dell Foundation, said.

By: Madhav Chanchani