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With EUR 25,800 an entire village will gain access to a clean and efficient source of lighting through solar lanterns.
IndiaOne of the most financially poor States in India is Odisha- where 91% of the population resides in villages, and 39% belongs to tribal communities where the average daily income is below $1. Several communities in Odisha, such as Kendrapara barely see any electricity. Out of 24 hours, many villages get electricity for only 6 hours! This means, the electricity that most of us take for granted, reaches them for just one-fourth of a day.
The communities residing in Kendrapara are agrarian. With unscheduled and unpredictable power-cuts, life is nothing short of thorny. Residents often resort to expensive battery-operated emergency lights or kerosene-fueled lamps. The kerosene lamps come with their own set of problems- not only are they expensive, but also hazardous as they give rise to toxic fumes. Problems get further aggravated after sunset as families are unable to cook food in the dark, children cannot study and hawkers have to pack up. The lesser obvious ones include wild animals entering the village causing havoc and the sick not getting proper treatment due to lack of visibility.
Gram Utthan, an organization based in Odisha, focuses on dealing with issues pertaining to livelihood, skill training, sanitation and more recently- energy. Their core value is to enhance human dignity and work towards sustainable development. Gram Utthan has implemented its Energy program in six districts in rural Odisha with a view to solve some of the problems that the residents currently face. Solar powered lighting has improved the general quality of life in the region. The beneficiaries have reduced expenses on traditional sources of lighting such as kerosene, increased economic activity through extension of working hours, fewer health issues arising from toxic kerosene and cow-dung fumes, and higher literacy rates as children can study after sunset. Milaap in partnership with Gram Utthan seeks to reach out to more such communities in rural Odisha.
Through the current project, an entire village will gain access to a clean and efficient source of lighting - solar lanterns - and in turn be more productive, healthier and happier.
Local partner Milaap provides the loan, which has to be repaid in 12 months.
Our local partners cover the risk of currency exchange rates and loan defaults. They do this by maintaining financial reserves for this purpose . In addition, there is an option to claim their equity if needed. While these measures are intended to minimize the risk to funders, our local partners face risks of their own that could effect their ability to secure a loan. These include: - bankruptcy - currency exchange rates - fraud - operational risks - political and regulatory changes - natural disasters or epidemics.
If you invest direct in a company, hence not via a local partner, risks of default are not covered. As the risk that comes with direct lendings is generally higher than an investment through a local partner, the interest rate is also higher.
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 loans at the best of its ability. At the same time, our ability to legally address non-payment from local partners becomes understandably difficult.
Local partners must adhere to our mission and work with us to provide loans that are affordable. This insures that local entrepreneurs have access to financing that allows them to grow their business. A local partner must also have a track record. In other words, they must have proven themselves as a meso-credit provider for SMEs. This means (for instance) that the partner must have a solid credit portfolio, along with enough buffers and equity to compensate for unexpected downturns. We also check the organizational structure of the partner and how robust their (internal) procedures are. Finally, the loans that a local partner receives via Lendahand must be in proportion to the partner's total balance sheet. A healthy balance between effectuating influence and independence 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 scenario's the local partner is contractually obliged to comply with these demands.
Lendahand will always conduct due diligence when a Company requests for a direct loan. To provide more insights on risks, an independent partie comes in to perform brief analysis on direct loans. The results can be downloaded on the project detail page of the direct loan. However, this analysis serves primarily as a tool for your own opinion and conclusion. Pay attention to the fact this analysis is not an investing advice.
No. 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.
Also, for direct loans no guarantee is provided.
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 of EUR 125,000 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.
We adhere to strict safety requirements with regards to private and payment details. All sensitive data is sent through an encrypted connection (https). Also, data is stored (encrypted) in a secured facility provided by AWS: the world largest hosting service. Customer documents can only be retrieved by a secured connection and multi-factor authentication.
Our local partners and Companies bear the exchange rate risks. We settle the loan, redemptions, and interest payments in euro.
If Hands-On BV (containing the brand name Lendahand) would go bankrupt trades between Lendahand and payment service provider Intersolve EGI would cease immediately. Intersolve will then transfer the funds in your personal 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 investees up 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 who have trusted money and or financial instruments (such as notes or options) to a licensed bank, 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 EUR 20,000 per individual. For more information, go to www.toezicht.dnb.nl/en/2/50-202210
| Number of companies in portfolio | 48 |
| Total assets | €509,362,700 |
| Leverage ratio | 54.00% |
| Write-off ratio last 12 months | 0.00% |
| % investment amount in arrears (>90 days) | 1.40% |
| % investment amount in arrears (>180 days) | 1.10% |
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