Five years of social business: Anniversary Report And 2021 Annual Report

Five years ago, Yunus Social Business Fund Bengaluru’s started its operations at TMT Community Trust campus located in the heart of South Bengaluru. Since then, we have expanded our presence to 10+ states across India, disbursing more than INR 25 crores in patient loans to 13+ social businesses. 

Over the five-years, our ethos and conviction to build an enabling ecosystem for social entrepreneurs has only become stronger. We have also been able to forge some strategic partnerships with visionary organizations such as IKEA Foundation, who have been instrumental in supporting us with our ecosystem building efforts via knowledge sharing and capacity building. Our partnerships with peer organizations such as Upaya Social Ventures had helped us get a grounding on delivering relevant acceleration support, which is critical for early stage entrepreneurs.

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Our 5-year plan involves developing long-term partnerships that help unlock capital and technical support for social entrepreneurs. By 2027, we will diversify our debt offerings to include instruments that are innovative, blended and have a higher risk appetite. - Suresh K Krishna, CEO & MD, YSBFB

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Some interesting insights from our annual report:

• Over 5 years, YSBFB supported social businesses have served 3.2 million low-income customers with essential products and services such as education and finance
• YSBFB supported social businesses improved incomes for 7.9 million individuals. This number includes microentrepreneurs (kirana shop owners, waste workers, e-rickshaw drivers etc.); smallholder farmers and handicraft artisans
• 34,000+ Metric Ton carbon emissions were averted/reduced by YSBFB supported social businesses through their core operations such as waste management, solar drying of food produce, and green mobility
  

As we envision the next 5 years, YSBFB will refine its focus on environment by looking into themes such as green entrepreneurship and sustainable agriculture. YSBFB will continue to strengthen its internal systems and processes, especially around Impact Measurement and Management and the Enterprise Growth Facility (EGF).

Here’s to the next phase of YSBFB’s growth - onwards and upwards!

Read our impact report here