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Good Return launches $10 million fund to support women entrepreneurs across Asia-Pacific
ROOT
Good Return launches $10 million fund to support women entrepreneurs across Asia-Pacific
Social purpose organisation Good Return has launched a second Impact Investment Fund targeting a $10 million capital raise to support women-led businesses in developing Asia-Pacific economies.
Good Return launches $10 million fund to support women entrepreneurs across Asia-Pacific
Social purpose organisation Good Return has launched a second Impact Investment Fund targeting a $10 million capital raise to support women-led businesses in developing Asia-Pacific economies.
The new evergreen fund is open to Australian wholesale impact investors contributing a minimum of $20,000. Funds raised will be used to guarantee and de-risk loans provided by local financial institutions to female entrepreneurs in countries including Fiji, Cambodia, Nepal, Indonesia and Papua New Guinea.
The launch follows Good Return’s first fund, which closed at $1 million in 2020 and facilitated $5.05 million in loans to more than 600 entrepreneurs—90 per cent of whom were women—across Cambodia and Indonesia. The fund also met its financial performance targets, returning results comparable to Australian bank deposit rates.
Peter McMullin AM, humanitarian and chair of the Good Business Foundation, was an investor in the inaugural fund and said investing in women entrepreneurs created far-reaching benefits.
“Entrepreneurs and SMEs don’t lack talent, only opportunity,” Mr McMullin said.
“When given the right support and environment, the women entrepreneurs I have met in our region have shown how they can grow businesses that are environmentally sustainable, economically resilient and create meaningful employment for their families and local people.”
One example cited by Good Return was Voucheang Loa, a small-scale Cambodian farmer who received an $8,000 loan to build greenhouses and scale up herb cultivation. Her loan was guaranteed by Wing Bank, a local partner of Good Return, which used fund capital to back $77,145 in loans to 13 entrepreneurs who lacked collateral.
Good Return’s Head of Asia and Impact Investments Diana Tjoeng said the new fund aims to address gender bias in the finance sector and improve access to capital for small businesses.
“Small businesses in the Asia Pacific form the backbone of developing economies and single mothers and other individual women entrepreneurs play a vital role,” Ms Tjoeng said.
“By empowering women... to access loans and use capital to grow their businesses, we can make a difference to economies more broadly.”
The fund will be supported by grant funding to train financial institution staff on gender-inclusive practices. Nearly 3,000 staff were trained through the first fund, and further efforts will focus on climate resilience through investment in infrastructure and sustainable inputs.
The initiative aligns with the Australian Government’s approach to development financing. Speaking at the launch of the Indo-Pacific NGO Blended Finance Accelerator, Foreign Minister Penny Wong said such programs were helping deliver broader change.
“By investing in the ability of organisations to scale and sustain blended finance projects, we are helping to drive long-term change in areas like gender equality and climate resilience across the Indo-Pacific – and shape a peaceful, stable and prosperous region,” Senator Wong said.
Good Return is encouraging eligible investors to participate in the new fund to support financial inclusion and long-term economic development across the region.
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