IsKarGu Restaurant
With EUR 6,800 Margarita is able to reconstruct her successful restaurant after it was wiped out by a typhoon.
- Local partner investment
- 1 new job
- 4 people reached
3.00%
EUR
Currency6 months


Margarita Rivera is a mother of 2 and the owner of IsKarGu Restaurant located in Calauan, Laguna. The restaurant is located along a highway with a beautiful scenic view of rice fields with mountain ranges at the horizon. Margarita started the restaurant in 2002 on her mother's advice with a small inventory. At conception, the restaurant only contained 5 chairs and only the necessary kitchen appliances, which she was able to buy after she and her husband separated. Her ex left Margarita with Php. 100,000, which was fully invested in the restaurant.
Because of the rural ambiance and the excellent food that the restaurant has to offer, it became a highly attractive restaurant for travelers passing the highway. Margarita is not only the owner, but also a committed chef. IsKarGu Restaurant currently employs fifteen workers with Margie's sister as the assistant manager and her brother as the sous chef. She is also highly committed to her community and uses her skills as a chef and restaurant owner to sponsor a feeding program for children from the nearby Don Bosco region.
Unfortunately, Mother Nature struck Margarita and the restaurant hard when Typhoon Glenda wiped out her restaurant completely in 2014, leaving her and the workers unemployed. She is, however, motivated more than ever to reconstruct her business.
Lendahand and its local partner NPFC are very proud to support Margarita in her time of need to rebuild her restaurant by providing a loan, which will be repaid in 18 months.
Company name | IsKarGu Restaurant |
CEO | Margarita Rivera |
Founded | 2002-01-01 |
Location | Caluan Laguna |
Sector | Services |
Turnover | €155,574.24 |
Employees | 15 |
Impact of this project
- With this investment 1 job is created
- With this investment 4 people are reached
About the risks
What are the risks of investing money?
The risk level depends on the specific project. Local partners cover the risk of currency exchange rates and defaults on Local Partner investments. They do this by maintaining financial reserves for this purpose. Aside from that, there is an option to claim their equity if needed. While these measures are intended to minimize the risk to investors, our local partners face risks of their own that could affect their ability to secure your investment. These include - bankruptcy - currency exchange rates - fraud - operational risks - political and regulatory changes - natural disasters or epidemics.
With direct investments, risks of default are not covered. As the risks are higher, so are the interest rates.
There is also some operational risk at Lendahand. An example might be that Lendahand is unable to find shareholders to finance their activities. In such a case, Lendahand will handle outstanding investments at the best of its ability. At the same time, our ability to legally address non-payment from local partners becomes understandably difficult.
How does Lendahand minimize the risks?
Every local partner must share our social mission to ensure local entrepreneurs can access affordable financing, allowing them to grow their business. Local partners must also have a 'track record'; they must have proven themselves as a reliable credit provider for SMEs.
For instance, this means a solid credit portfolio and enough buffers and equity to compensate for unexpected downturns. We also check the organizational structure of the portfolio company and how robust their (internal) procedures are. Finally, the investments must be in proportion to the total balance of that portfolio company. A healthy balance between effectuating influence and being independent is crucial. If you would like to receive more information on the financial indicators we employ, please contact us via info@lendahand.com.
When currency exchange risks become too high for a local partner, Lendahand will urge the local partner to cover these risks. In some scenarios, the local partner is contractually obliged to comply with these demands.
Lendahand always conducts due diligence when companies request funding. The results can be downloaded on the project detail page. However, this analysis is not investing advice.
Does Lendahand provide a guarantee?
Usually we don't. Local partners take care of the repayment, even if (some) entrepreneurs are unable to do so themselves. If the local partner is for some reason unable to repay then there is a chance of partial or full loss of your money. For this reason, Lendahand only selects financially solid partners based on strict criteria.
For most direct investments, there is no guarantee. However, currency risks are covered.
Sometimes, and only for some direct investments in Africa, our partner Sida, part of the Swedish government, will guarantee a maximum of 50%. Read here more about guarantees with Sida. Projects with Sida guarantees are indicated explicitly on the project page.
Does Lendahand have a license or exemption?
Yes. The Dutch Authority Financial Markets (AFM) has provided Hands-on B.V. (with trade name 'Lendahand') in September 2016 with an investment firm license in accordance with article 2:96 of the Financial Markets Supervision Act (Wft). Placing orders on Lendahand's website is therefore an AFM regulated activity. Lendahand also meets its minimum capital requirements following its license as required by De Nederlandsche Bank (DNB).
Lendahand uses an exemption from an approved prospectus that is available up to EUR 5 Million per year.
How safe are my personal details?
We adhere to strict safety requirements concerning private and payment details. All sensitive data is sent through an encrypted connection (https). Also, information is stored (encrypted) in a secured facility provided by AWS: the world’s largest hosting service. A secured connection and multi-factor authentication can only retrieve customer documents.
What happens if the local currency devaluates?
Our local partners and companies bear the exchange rate risks. We settle the investments, redemptions, and interest payments in euro.
Does Lendahand use a third foundation fund?
What happens with my money if Lendahand goes bankrupt?
If Hands-On BV (containing the brand name Lendahand) went bankrupt, trades between Lendahand and payment service provider Intersolve EGI would cease immediately. Intersolve will then transfer the funds in your wallet to your bank account (Note: if at this time the project you have invested in has been fully funded and the money has thus been transferred to the local partner, these funds will not be transferred back to your bank account). Intersolve will then, in consultation with a trustee, handle all repayments between the investors and entrepreneurs until the final repayment of the last project has taken place.
Additionally, Lendahand is part of the investor compensation scheme (ICS). This scheme aims to compensate individuals and small businesses with trusted money and or financial instruments (such as notes or options) to a licensed bank, an investment firm, or a financial institution. In case the financial firm is unable to meet its obligations arising from claims related to the investment service (in other words, if Hands-On BV is not keeping track of the acquired notes by investors in the Wge depot correctly). The ICS guarantees an amount of up to €20.000 per individual. For more information, go to www.toezicht.dnb.nl/en/2/50-202210
Why is Intersolve EGI handling my money?
What happens when a local partner goes bankrupt?
About NPFC
Portfolio Overview | €2,091,922 |
Equity / total assets | 17.00% |
Write-off ratio last 12 months | 14.20% |
% investment amount in arrears (>90 days) | 19.90% |
We have already contributed for IsKarGu Restaurant

